Skulduggery Pleasant - The Meeting (Valduggery)
by goXve
Summary: Valkyrie Cain is driving home in her car a rainy night when she spots a man walking alongside the road. She decides to give him a ride into town, but as soon as they lay their eyes on each other, everything changes... and poor Fletcher Renn is trapped in between all of it! Valduggery and Ghanith! Contains sexual themes, murder and childbirth!
1. The Car Ride

**This story is inspired by the song "All I Wanna Do, Is Make Love To You" by the band "Heart". For those of you who have heard this song before is probably knowing what this story's going to be about ;)**

 **For this story I imagined a world where Valkyrie, Skulduggery and the others are not magical, but just normal humans. Valkyrie and Skulduggery work as detectives here too, but Valkyrie is 25 and Skulduggery 28.**

 **Please review! It helps me in my work! :)**

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The car stereo played a popular song on the radio while the rain poured over the windshield. The windscreen wipers swept back and forth and did their best to keep the rain away. No other cars could be seen and the headlights could not do much to keep the darkness away.

Valkyrie Cain, 25 years old, detective and a young woman in her best years, sang in tune with the song and let her fingers drum against the steering wheel. Her thoughts were far away and it was just that she could concentrate on her driving. She had lost her beloved uncle Gordon Edgley a few weeks ago of what they initially thought had been a heart attack, but then had turned out to be poisoning. The murderer had been found and imprisoned, but his motive to want to kill her uncle had not yet been discovered. For some reason, Nefarian Serpine would not tell that little detail.

She had demanded responsibility of the case, but her boss, China Sorrows, had expressly said no to her request. She thought that since Gordon was a close relative to her, her feelings could come in the way of her work of finding the murderer. Something that Valkyrie obviously thought was bullshit, but she'd known better than to say no to China.

Instead it had been her colleague Tanith Low that had taken over and Valkyrie had to admit that she had done a very good job. Tanith was a big fan of Gordon's books and had liked him as a person as well. Valkyrie had to laugh when she remembered the first time Tanith had met her uncle and asked him for an autograph that he more than happy had given to her.

The only thing that disturbed her was that Tanith had reported that another detective who'd also known and been friends with her uncle had helped Tanith in the investigation. Who this man was and why he was assigned to assist her department was still a mystery she couldn't solve. Tanith had told her that this mysterious man had presented himself as "Inspector Me" and that it was his cover name, his alias, since he didn't want to reveal his real name. The only thing she had managed to get out of Tanith in addition to his name was that it was apparently thanks to him that they had managed to find and arrest Serpine.

A movement made her wake up from her thoughts, and when she focused her eyes on the road again she could see the silhouette of a young man in her own age walking along the roadside. He was tall and narrow and wearing a dark blue suit. 'What a strange choice of clothing considering the weather', thought Valkyrie and slowed down. She could now see the man clearer. He had short, black hair, high cheekbones and light blue eyes. Under his suit, she could see that he was muscular, but not in an excessive set. He was more sinewy.

"What is he doing out here at this time of the day and without an umbrella? He has to be soaking wet! He will catch a cold if he does not get dry soon!" Valkyrie said to herself and started to brake while she blinked with the headlights towards the man to catch his attention.

The man stopped and turned around. Their eyes met and Valkyrie felt like an electric shock went through her. She lost her breath for a few seconds and felt how her heart started to beat faster. He was so beautiful and she had to admit to herself that he was attractive, _very attractive_. She felt drawn to him in a way she had never been to any other man before, not even to her partner Fletcher Renn.

Without that she had noticed, she'd stopped the car right next to the man. He still had not let go of her gaze when he knocked on the driver window to summon her attention. She rolled down the window but could not shape any words. When she first saw the man, she had been thinking of asking him if he wanted a ride, but now it was as if her lips had been sewn together. She could not say a single word.

"Sorry if I am bothering you in any way, but it seemed like you were calling for my attention over there. Have I done anything to you?" wondered the man and raised an eyebrow.

The voice of the man was as smooth as velvet, and Valkyrie thought to herself 'I could listen to that voice forever...'

"Yes..." she managed to get out after yet another few seconds of silence. "I could not help but notice that you have no umbrella or other protection against the rain. I thought that... you might want a ride? I'm on my way to Haggard, where are you going?"

The man did not answer her at first, but just kept looking at her with those light blue eyes that caused her insides to tingle as if she had been electrified. "Are you not afraid of that I am going to hurt you? You do not know me at all. I could be a rapist or even a killer."

Valkyrie gave him a smile that told the man she could take care of herself. "Well, of course, you're right, but maybe I should tell you I'm a detective and have taken down men who have been older, bigger and stronger than you. I think I could teach you a lesson in case you tried anything."

The man laughed and the sound caused Valkyrie to shiver. His laughter was as beautiful as his voice. Whole he was something unique. She had never experienced a person who radiated such self-confidence, such strength or was as beautiful as this man. There was something about him that prevented you from _not_ noticing him. He was something else, something that did not belong to this world...

"I believe you in your words, Miss. I'm actually on my way to Haggard where I have a house right outside the city. Since you offered to give me a ride, I would be extremely ungrateful if I declined that offer. If you could drive me downtown, I can walk the rest of the way."

Valkyrie did not answer but just pointed to the passenger seat and gave him a warm smile. She tried to tell herself that the only reason why she was willing to give him a ride was because she felt sorry for him, but she did not really succeed with it. There was something with this man she could not explain. She had a feeling that... they were _intended_ to meet.

The man opened the car door and sat down next to her. He gave her a thankful smile and then put on the seat belt. Valkyrie put in a gear and drove out on the road. The rain poured down on to the car and that plus the windscreen wipers that hit the window were the only sounds that were heard.

"If you're freezing, there's a blanket in the back seat that you can wrap around yourself. I hope you are not allergic to dogs, as there are dog hairs on it. My dog Xena usually uses that blanket when she and I drive long distances."

"Thank you, that was kind of you." The man turned around and grabbed the blanket. He wrapped it around himself and sighed. "What a cozy blanket... I did not understand how wet I actually was until now."

Valkyrie could not help laughing but interrupted herself immediately since the man could take it the wrong way. "Sorry, I did not mean..."

"Oh, do not worry! I understand you. In spite of everything, I should blame myself for going out in this weather."

"Why are you out in this weather, really? No normal person would voluntarily go out in this weather."

"Haha, if you knew me, you would understand that I'm not what people call 'normal'. I'm actually quite famous for making strange things and breaking the rules. Why have rules if you can not break them?"

Valkyrie laughed without interrupting herself this time. "Just like that, I usually describe myself and I usually also say that rules are meant for breaking. I guess your friends and acquaintances, maybe even your coworkers, do not like your 'methods'?"

"It's actually my coworkers who do not like my methods. I do not have so many friends and no family. They died a few years ago. I had enraged a mafia boss and he had laid a bomb under my car. Just this day me and my wife had decided to switch cars, since she and our child was going to Dublin for shopping. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Valkyrie was shocked by how honest and how easily the man could tell all this to her. "I'm... sorry. It must have been difficult. But how come that you are still living to this day?"

The man shrugged his shoulders. "In the beginning, yes. He thought that he had got his revenge on me, since he had taken away those I cared for the most in the whole world and that I could die for. It was there where he made his misstake. I managed to find him in the end and then I got my revenge. Let us say he will not be able to kill any more innocent mothers and children more times."

The coldness in the mans voice got Valkyrie to almost drive off the road by pure shock. Normally she would have thrown out the man directly and left him to his destiny, but not now. Even if this man just had confessed to killing someone, she understood why. Had she not herself wanted to kill Serpine in the same moment that she had got the news that he'd been arrested and confessed to the murder of her uncle? Yes, she had and even if it had not been like her to think those thoughts, she had not been afraid of herself but had told herself that this time it was different, that now it was _personal_.

So instead of throwing out the man, she took a harder grip on the steering wheel and concentrated on the driving. She saw in the corner of her eye that the man was watching her, as if he wanted to try to understand what she was thinking about. She decided to save him some time by telling him.

"I know exactly what you have gone through. I lost my uncle Gordon Edgley, the famous best selling writer that writes about magicians and monsters, a couple weeks ago. He was murdered by poisoning. I asked my boss to be a part of the investigation, but she forbid me. I got really angry and in secret kept checking what kind of progress they were doing in the case before I just some days ago got the news that they had found the man that had done it. As soon as I found this out I wanted to run into his cell and kill him with my bare hands. I wanted to see how the life slowly would dissapear from his eyes while I would beat him bloody. I still want to kill him for what he has done towards me and my

family, but not as strongly. He will suffer more in prison. If I would have killed him he would have gotten a too easy way out."

"Stephanie? Are you Stephanie Edgley?"

Valkyrie got so surprised that she put her feet on the brake. The force in the brake made her travel forward but the seatbelt stopped her from hitting her head in the steering wheel. She turned her head against the man that sat next to her and looked at him with widened eyes. "How do you know my name?!"

The man put up his hands in front of him in a calming gesture. "Calm down! I knew your uncle, Gordon. He was one of my few and best friends and we hung out a lot in my spare time. He has actually helped me solve many of my cases, since he was a perfect human to discuss things with. I would guess that you and him also discussed cases that you have had problems with? Am I right?"

"Inspector Me? Is it _you_ that are inspector Me?!"

"In person. Nice to meet you. But as you probably already know that is not my real name." The man stretched out his hand. "Nice meeting you, Stephanie Edgley. My name is Skulduggery Pleasant."

Valkyrie shook his hand and could not help but smile. There was something with this man that made her unable not to put her lips into a smile. "Likewise, Skulduggery Pleasant. I would like to both from myself but also from my family thank you for everything you have done for us. If it had not been for you, we might never have found Nefarian Serpine and put him behind bars."

Skulduggery smiled and Valkyrie once again got that tingling in her whole body. What was it with this mister Pleasant that got her to become all weak-kneed? She did not understand her own feelings. She felt it as if her body and thoughts was riding a roller coaster without end. To try to get her thoughts on other things she said "If it's not too much to ask, I would like you to call me Valkyrie Cain. That's my detective name, but it is also the name I have start to present myself as to others except for my closest family, since I think it suits me better."

"If what I have heard from Gordon is true, I can't do anything else but agree with you."

Valkyrie smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then I of course wonder what my crazy uncle now has said about me."

"Strong-willed, intelligent, sarcastic, no patience with idiots... Does that remind you of someone?"

"If I did not know better I would just have thought that you described my uncle."

"Well, he always used to say that you two were more alike than you realized." Skulduggery looked at her and it seemed as if he was thinking. "I would even want to go so far as to say that you resemble him in many ways. The way you talk, how you move, even in the way you show emotions."

Valkyrie now lifted both of her eyebrows. "It sounds as if you have been watching me for some time, mister Pleasant. Do I need to feel worried?"

"Please, call me Skulduggery. No, I have not been watching you. I am simply very good at reading people and have always been." Skulduggery smiled again and got a glimpse in his eyes that Valkyrie could not read. "However, I would not have minded if anyone had asked me..."

A shiver of pleasure went along Valkyrie's back, down to her stomach and further down to her gender. The way Skulduggery said those words... Had she just been imagining or had they not had a sensual tone? Did Skulduggery flirt with her? Not that she would have anything against it, the other way around. He was very attractive and she suspected that many women he'd met under his career had yearned after him. He maybe even had had some affairs here and there after his wife and child so tragically had died.

"Oh, you say that? I thank you for the compliment, Skulduggery. Something tells me that if I would have had you as a watcher you would probably had seen both this and that." What was she doing?! Did she just flirt back? What was wrong with her? Fletcher was waiting for her at home and was probably worried by now. She should be dropping of this mister Pleasant downtown and then drive straight home!

Even though these thoughts sneaked upon her she could not stop. She wanted to flirt with Skulduggery since he awoke something inside her that she had not felt for a long time. How long had it been since the last time she and Fletcher had done something together? Lately they had started to drift apart from each other and Valkyrie thought she knew why. They had too many different interests, different working hours that did that they hardly saw each other under the days and on the weekends she often was so tired that she could not carry through any kind of activity that Fletcher suggested.

They had also started to argue a lot. Fletcher thought she should change work, or at least try to change her working hours. She worked a lot of nights, which meant that they basically just had time to say good morning and good night to each other since Fletcher worked as a teacher on a secondary school. He never worked later than 5 pm on the weekdays, unless he and the other teachers had an evening meeting.

Especially tough it had become after Gordon's death. She had threw herself into work with a new fervency and often worked over just to avoid thinking about that she never again would see her uncle alive. This often led to her coming home after Fletcher had gone to sleep and that she didn't get to say goodbye when he went to work in the morning since he didn't want to wake her. She'd been doing this because she knew that as soon as she got home and relaxed the tears would come out and she hated to show weakness in front of others. She had only cried in front of Fletcher once, and that had been at the funeral.

 _Better to be so tired when you come home that you fall asleep as soon as you put your head on the pillow instead of laying awake and think of things that has been and never again will happen._

A hand was laid under her chin and lifted up her face. When Valkyrie lifted her gaze she stared straight into Skulduggery's light blue eyes and what she saw in them got her to almost lose her breath again. They were so beautiful, so deep, so... _right_. She could stare into those eyes forever and lose herself in them.

"Valkyrie, do you hear me? You disappeared for some seconds. I started to worry that something had happened to you."

She shook her head to the extent that she could when Skulduggery held her chin. The feeling of his warm hand against her skin got her skin to tingle and she had to stop herself from stroking herself against his hand. Instead she swallowed and managed to sort out her breathing again. "I apologize if I scared you, Skulduggery. I... lost myself in my own thoughts for a while."

Skulduggery continued holding her chin. He looked at her for several seconds before he said anything. "Are you sure that everything is alright? You do not seem to feel so good. You have a sad glimpse in your eyes."

"Let me guess, Skulduggery. It is now that you will try to coax what's wrong so you then can say some comforting words to make me feel better, right? Believe me when I say that I have had enough people in my life that has tried doing that and failed. I am not a psycho or someone you can train your 'I-am-a-person-that-can-feel-people' tricks on." Valkyrie was surprised by the coldness in her voice, but got even more surprised when she noticed that Skulduggery did not seem to be bothered by her outburst. He just continued to look her in the eyes and did not release his grip on her.

 _What does he want?_

After some more seconds of silence Skulduggery let go of her chin and leaned back against the passenger seat. He at the same time let go of her gaze and Valkyrie felt it as if she could breath normal again. She had not realized that she had been breathing irregular under the whole time that Skulduggery had held her. She felt it as if she had been spellbound and just woken up from the trance or as if she had been running a mini marathon. She put in a gear and once again drove up to the road for the second time this evening.

She looked at Skulduggery from the corner of her eyes and could see that he was looking out at the road ahead of them. By his body language to judge he was concerned, embarassed and... sad? Yes, he was also sad. "I... apologize for intruding."

"Oh... You have nothing to apologize for. It is I who should apologize for being so unfriendly. It was not like you were snooping around in my private life or something like that."

"Friends?" Skulduggery looked at her from the corner of his eyes with a minimal smile in the corner of his mouth.

Valkyrie let her left hand drop its grip around the steering wheel and stretched it out towards Skulduggery. "Friends."

He took her hand and in the same moment that their hands touched each other this time Valkyrie could both see and feel how the tingling that she had been feeling numerous times under the short time she had been in Skulduggery Pleasant's presence, also affected him. He flinched as if he had gotten a shock, but did not let go of her hand. A glimpse of surprise but also understanding was lit in his eyes and Valkyrie could not help but wonder what they could mean.

"It will be a pleasure to get to know you, Valkyrie Cain..."


	2. Making Love

**Warning! This chapter contains _sexual themes!_**

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"What makes you think we will meet each other again?" Valkyrie asked and looked Skulduggery in the eyes. In them she could still see the glimpses of surprise and understanding, but also a new one: curiosity.

"A feeling I have. It tells me that this is just the beginning, that something is about to happen. Something that will change our lives as we know it. Don't you feel it as well? I can see on you that you have also noticed it." Skulduggery took a harder grip on her hand and once again Valkyrie could feel and see the electricity that excisted between the two of them.

She could not do anything but nod. She still did not know what it meant, but she had a guess. Considering the tingling she had felt between her legs earlier, she was attracted to Skulduggery. She did not know if it only was because he looked good and that it had been a while since she last had intercourse, or if she actually _wanted_ to sleep with this mister Pleasant. She had never been cheating before or even _thought_ about other men under the 10 years she and Fletcher had been a couple.

Could it be that she had started to become... bored? Was she searching for something new, something fresh and invigorating?

She tore her gaze from Skulduggery and once again turned her gaze to the road while she let go of of his hand, since she had noticed that she was nearing the ditch. She had no intentions whatsoever to cause an accident. Especially not when she had another person with her in the car that she did not know if she would be able to keep her hands from if something... _intimate_... would occur between them.

"So, do you want to tell me a little more about yourself, Skulduggery?" asked Valkyrie to have something else to talk about before the mood in the car would become awkward. "Where do you work? Not here in Haggard, then I would have seen you."

Skulduggery gave her a gaze that told Valkyrie that the previous topic was not finished discussed but he answered her question. "No, I do not work in Haggard. I am working in Roarhaven, a city around one hours car drive away from here. You have probably heard about it. It is kind of infamous for being a town where only the bravest dare to live. It is there all the worst are living, the most criminal. Which also is the reason to why I am working there. I want excitment and challenges. What else is the meaning of being a detective? Especially after I lost my wife and child. To be a detective is the only thing I have left now."

Valkyrie was filled with a sadness towards Skulduggery. He was so young and had already been through so much. He had a job he loved and that he probably had worked with for some years now. He had found love and formed a family, but had also experienced how it feels when it is taken away from you.

"How long have you been working as a detective? I have been working with it for five years and I started when I was 20."

"Are you really just 25? I know that you shouldn't talk about a womans age and all that, but you look a lot younger." Skulduggery gave her a flirtatious smile that Valkyrie answered. "I have been a detective since eight years back and I also graduated when I was 20 years old."

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "Are you 28? And I that thought we were the same age! You also look like you are younger than you really are."

Skulduggery laughed and the atmosphere was once again back to normal. "That I am taking as a compliment, Valkyrie."

"The pleasure was all mine."

Without them noticing they were now in Haggard. They just drove past the pier Valkyrie had played at so often in her childhood together with her friends and family. They would soon be at the downtown where she would let Skulduggery out. The thought made her become sad. She had really liked Skulduggery's company and did not want to part from him, while she at the same time knew it was the right thing to do. She should really drive home to Fletcher and crawl down in the bed together with him.

Before she had time to stop herself she heard herself say "You know what? I do not want you to become soaking wet again now that you just have dried. Where do you live? I'll drive you home. It will not be such a long detour for me and I have nothing against it."

"Are you sure? I do not want to impose." Skulduggery looked at her and when he saw the determination in Valkyrie's eyes he nodded. "Okay. I live on Cemetery Road. Do you know where that is?"

"The house next to one of those two funeral homes? Yes, I know where that is. Excuse me for saying this, but it seems a bit morbid to live next door with the dead."

"As I told you before my dear Valkyrie, I am not directly what people would call 'normal'. You would on the other hand understand why I like to live on Cemetery Road after hearing the two men that owns the funeral homes argue with each other. It is actually quite entertaining when they stand at each end of their fences and yell insults at each other."

Valkyrie laughed. "I can imagine that. Those two have a reputation here in town not being able to resist the chance to argue as soon as they get the oppurtunity. Let me guess. When you are bored you usually sit on the porch and listen to them and laugh quietly for yourself. Am I close?"

Skulduggery looked at her in surprise under a few seconds before he laughed. "It sounds as if you already know me, Valkyrie! Are you sure that it is not _you_ who have been spying on _me_?"

Valkyrie laughed again. "The reason to why I said so is because it sounds like something myself and Gordon could have done when he was still alive. Be it that I _have_ no patience with and he _had_ no patience with idiots, but that does not mean that we thought it was fun to _listen_ to them."

"For some strange reason I do not get surprised of what you just said." Skulduggery got something compassionate in his eyes. "You miss him a lot, don't you?"

Valkyrie got at least as surprised as Skulduggery when tears rose in her eyes and poured down along her cheeks. She did not dare to stroke them away from fear of that she would lose control over the car. "So... sorry", she sobbed. "I do not know what came over me. I usually do not cry infront of others."

Skulduggery leaned closer and stroked away her tears with his fingertips. The feeling of having someone else who understood her pain next to her just made the tears pour faster down her cheeks. As soon as Skulduggery stroked them away new ones came to take their place. Luckily Valkyrie could se Skulduggery's house just a few hundred meters in front of them and the relief rose inside her.

"We... are here..." she managed to sob and glanced up at Skulduggery at the same moment that she parked the car next to his house.

Skulduggery said nothing. Instead he unbuttoned both his and her seat belt before he opened the passanger door. Then he laid his arms around her in an embrace while he lifted her up. Valkyrie shouted of surprise but did not protest when Skulduggery carried her over to the house after having closed the car door and locked the car. He unlocked the house door and they walked into a dark hallway. Skulduggery lit the hall lamp and a soft shine fell over them. He then carried her over to the living room where he sat down in the couch and laid her head against his shoulder. "So. Now you can cry without anyone else having to see, Valkyrie."

"But... You are here..." Valkyrie mumbled against Skulduggery's shoulder.

"I do not count. Furthermore I can not see you cry if you have your head in my shoulder, can I? Now then, let it come out. I am here for you."

By those words Valkyrie could not hold it back anymore. She took a hard grip around Skulduggery's shirt collar and buried her face in his shoulder while the tears poured. She tried to hold back the sobs that wanted to get out from her throat, but it was in vain and soon she gave up the tries of keeping them back. Instead she let all of her sorrow and missing flow out of her and to her surprise it felt really nice to be able to cry together with a total stranger. Because that's what Skulduggery was.

 _A stranger._

Skulduggery kept holding her while he stroked her back and hair. He whispered calming words in her ear and his voice made Valkyrie shiver of pleasure between the sobbings. She did not know what to believe or think about everything that had happened to her since she had met Skulduggery Pleasant. She had discovered sides of herself that she did not know existed and she still did not know what she thought of them. Were they good, bad or something in between?

She found herself thinking that something like this she would never have been able to do together with Fletcher. There just did not exist in her world picture that if she became really sad or depressed just would walk up to Fletcher and sit in his lap to let the tears pour out of her. Instead she would have locked herself in the bathroom, in their bedroom or taken a drive in her car to being able to clear her thoughts.

As she had been telling Skulduggery before: _she was not a person that cried in front of others._ What was it then in this case that got her to completely sonika let this stranger lift her up in his lap to then cry against his shoulder? What was it with Skulduggery that meant that she could totally trust him, but not the man she claimed to love?

As if Skulduggery had read her thoughts he looked down at her in the same moment that she lifted up her face to look up at him. Their faces were just a few centimeters away from each other and Valkyrie could once again feel that attraction between the two of them. She could see in Skulduggery's eyes that he also felt it and without she knowing why they were doing it, they leaned closer and closer towards each other until their lips met in a kiss.

The attraction that had been laying slumbering between them from the moment they had laid eyes on each other now literally exploded in an ocean of desire. The kiss soon turned into a tongue war. They pressed against each other, wanted to get as close to the other as possible but it still was not enough. They wanted more than kisses. They wanted to _explore_ each other, _touch_ each other, _see_ each other.

Skulduggery laid down Valkyrie on the couch and pushed his body against her. Valkyrie let her hands stroke against Skulduggery's back, hair and chest while she pushed her own body against him. Her whole body seemed to burn and the only thing she wanted was to feel Skulduggery inside of her. She had never wanted anyone as much as she just now wanted Skulduggery.

They broke off their kisses to catch their breath and when they looked each other in the eyes they could see the desire they both felt for the other. They both knew they could not back now. There was no return anymore. If so their lifes had been in danger they could not have prevented what was about to happen. For some reason which none of them could understand they were attracted to each other by some unknown force.

They both were breathing strained and Valkyrie could not help but observe Skulduggery's face. He was so beautiful, so unlike anyone else she had met before... He was an angel in human form, too beautiful for this world. She wanted to see him naked, she wanted to inspect whole him from top to toe and she wanted him to do the same with her. She wanted their bodies to melt together and become one.

 _Why am I doing this? I am together with Fletcher, for God's sake! I should not be doing this, it's wrong! Infidelity is wrong, that's not who I am... or? Oh my God, I want him so much it hurts me inside! What should I do? What Fletcher does not know can not hurt him, right? It's not like I'm going to leave him for Skulduggery. This is just a one-time occasion._

Valkyrie's thoughts were interrupted by Skulduggery that stroked her cheek. She returned to reality and once again felt how her heart beat hard, how her body burned from bated desire and how close their bodies were to each other. "Valkyrie, what is happening? Why do I want you so much, even though we have only knew each other under such a short time? What is it with you that makes me not being able to control myself?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Skulduggery. I can not control myself either. I have never felt like this before. There is something with you, something that I am attracted to. What this something is, I do not know, but I do not care either." Valkyrie took off Skulduggery's suit jacket and then started to unbutton his shirt. She never let go of his gaze and in the same moment that the shirt fell off him she kissed him while she let her hands explore his neck, shoulders, collarbones, chest and and waist. His skin was so soft and he was covered in muscles that tightened so nicely at the same moment that she touched them.

Skulduggery shivered from her touch and gave out a low moan in her mouth that also made Valkyrie shiver. She felt how Skulduggery pulled off her jacket to then let his hands find their way under her t-shirt where he unbuttoned her bra. Then he let the both garments get pulled off her and now they both lay half-naked in the sofa. Skulduggery started to massage her breasts unbearably slowly och Valkyrie pushed them up against his hands while she moaned. She bent her head backwards while she at the same time pushed her throbbing gender against Skulduggery's bump that could be be surmised in his pants. As soon as their genders touched each other both detectives moaned loud.

Valkyrie continued to move her gender against Skulduggery's and he let his lips kiss her throat and neck to then continue down towards her collar bone and at last stop by her breast. He slowly let his tongue circulate around her nipple while his hand continued to massage her other breast. His other hand stroked her waist and hip.

"Oh, Skulduggery..." Valkyrie moaned and bent herself more backwards so that he would get better access. "So good..."

Skulduggery laughed and pulled down the zipper in her jeans. Then he realeased his grip on her breasts and bent down over her waist. He gave her stomach kisses light as a feather while he pulled down her pants. He stopped for a second and looked her in the eyes. Valkyrie nodded and Skulduggery understood that she gave her permission. He looked at her swollen lips, stiff nipples and waist. She was so beautiful and then he had not even seen the lower parts of her yet.

Slowly Skulduggery took off Valkyrie her shoes, socks and pants. Now she only lay in her underwears under him. He let his fingertips stroke along the top of her feet first to then let them find their way up along her legs. He could see how she shivered from his touch and he smiled to himself when he thought about what would come next. She would be doing a lot more than just shiver before he was done with her...

Slowly, so unbearably slowly, Skulduggery pulled his fingers along the outside of Valkyrie's underwears. She moaned and pushed up her gender against his fingers. God, he was so good at teasing her! Her lust towards him just grew and grew the more he touched her. She was so wet, so horny... She wanted him inside of her right now! "Please, Skulduggery..."

Skulduggery smiled and pulled off her underwears. It did not take many seconds before Valkyrie could feel two fingers that massaged her inside while at the same time a tongue licked her clitoris. She bent her back backwards in an arc and moaned loud. She started to move in the tact of Skulduggery's fingers and the feeling they and his tongue gave her made her tremble in pleasure. Oh, it had been such a long time since someone had touched her in this way... She understood first now _how long_ it had been.

She pushed harder against him and grabbed his hair while waves of pleasure went through her. She could not hold the orgasm back much longer if Skulduggery continued with his treatment. She wanted to let go, but still not since she was afraid that Skulduggery would think that she was satisfied and stop without having becoming a part of her.

His fingers pushed deeper into her and Valkyrie thought she would faint from the pleasure that arose. Skulduggery had found her G-spot! Oh, god! She felt it as if she would melt, so good it was. "Valkyrie, let go..." His voice, that velvety voice... Valkyrie could not hold it back any longer but let go and came with such force that she screamed out Skulduggery's name out loud at the same time as her entire body was coursing with spasms.

Skulduggery pulled out his fingers from her and gave her a moment to regain her breathing. He looked down at her with such a desire that Valkyrie thought she would be able to come again just by looking into his eyes. She sat up on her elbows and let her hand stroke Skulduggery's cheek. "That was... amazing. Thank you."

"It was nothing." Skulduggery smiled and took her hand in his. "Come."

Valkyrie stood up and would have fallen if it had not been for Skulduggery's hand. Her legs trembled and felt like gelly. On unsteady legs she followed Skulduggery to a bedroom with only a single bed, a wardrobe and a window. Skulduggery put her by the edge of the bed and took her in his arms before he gave her a slow kiss. Valkyrie kissed him back while she unbuttoned his pants. She helped him out of them and then lay down on the bed with Skulduggery on top.

"Take me... Make love to me, Skulduggery Pleasant..."

"With pleasure, Valkyrie Cain..."

In the same moment that his penis penetrated her vagina Valkyrie exploded. She was filled with so many emotions at the same time. Pleasure, desire, shame but also an affinity. It was as if she had found home, as if it was here that she was meant to be, in Skulduggery's arms. As if she had only been half a person before and that now finally had found her lost half.

Skulduggery began to move and she followed in his pace. He took it slowly at the beginning, in fear of hurting her but when he noticed that she wanted more he began to move faster. Valkyrie pushed herself harder against him and laid her legs around his hips so that he could come even deeper. They moaned against each others necks and Valkyrie dug down her nails in Skulduggery's back when he hit an extra sensitive spot. They pushed even harder against each other, more desperate. It was as if they could not come deep enough, not close enough to each other.

After what felt like an eternity Valkyrie noticed how a new orgasm started to build up in her. She pressed harder, faster against Skulduggery and felt how he also began to reach climax. She pressed her body as close as she only could against him and in the same moment that Skulduggery bit her neck she came with such violence that she saw black dots in front of her eyes. "Skulduggery!" she screamed and dug down her nails so deep in his back that she felt how the skin broke.

"Valkyrie..." Skulduggery whispered in her ear and filled her with his hot sperm.

The both lovers sank down onto the bed and Skulduggery pulled out of her. Valkyrie turned her head towards him and gave him a tired smile. "You are incomparable... I have never... experienced something that... even comes close... to what we... just did..." Valkyrie said with a strained voice.

Skulduggery laughed low and bent down over her. He gave her a kiss which was full of feelings and that got Valkyrie's whole body to pulsate with warmth. She laid down comfortably against his shoulder and before any of them knew it they had fallen asleep.

When Valkyrie woke it was still dark, but the light of the early dawns first rays could be seen in the horizon. First she could not understand where she was, but then the memories came back to her. She looked up and could see Skulduggery's beautiful face that slept peacefully above her. He had laid one of his arms around her and held her in a loose embrace.

She sat up carefully not to wake Skulduggery. She gave his cheek a soft kiss, stretched herself and gave him one last longing gaze. Then she got upp, walked to her clothes in the living room, got dressed and looked around. When she had found what she had been looking for she sat down on the couch and wrote a letter. When she felt finished she walked out of the house, sat in the car and drove home to Fletcher, her boyfriend.

She threw one last gaze at the house on Cemetery Road in the rearview mirror before she turned back her gaze on the road ahead of her. Despite what she had wrote in the letter she had a feeling of that she and Skulduggery would meet again. Under which circumstances these would be, she had never been able to imagine...

 _Dear Skulduggery Pleasant_

 _Thank you for tonight. It was fantastic and unlike anything I have ever done or experienced before. Despite this it is with sadness in my heart that I have to beg you not to contact me any more times. I am already in a relationship and I want to give it a chance. I will never forget you or what we experienced together, but it ends here. If my life had looked different we may maybe have been able to become something more than just a shoulder to cry out on. As it looks now, however... I am so sorry..._

 _I wish you all luck._

 _Sincerely, Stephanie Edgley, alias Valkyrie Cain  
_

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 **And there we go! Now the story will really start to get interesting. Please tell me if you have some ideas about what's going to come next or if you have any ideas that you think I should consider put in future chapters :)**


	3. Thoughts and truths

**Finally! Here we get to meet Tanith, Ghastly and China! In this story Tanith and Ghastly are a couple :)**

 **As you've probably noticed in the other chapters, but also in this one, I have taken some scenes/events/quotes mainly from the first book -but also one or two from the other books - but changed them so they suit into this story. I wanted to make an homage mainly to the first book, since it was in there everything started, after all :)**

* * *

Valkyrie woke early the same afternoon with a tender body and filled with a brain that tried to decide for what feeling she should feel most of. She was filled with feelings of guilt for what she had done to Fletcher, at the same time as she knew that if the opportunity occured she would probably do it again. She was also filled with a new love towards Fletcher, since she in the same moment she had came home realized how much she actually loved him. Even if she was drawn sexually to Skulduggery, it was Fletcher that was her port, the person she knew and who she was safe with.

And still... She could not stop thinking about Skulduggery. On his voice, his laugh, those light blue eyes... On how he had managed to make her body burn, even pulsate of a lust she had never felt before. How she had felt at home in his arms, as if he was her twin soul. Not that she believed in that kind of stuff, but she could not close her eyes from her feelings even how much she would like to.

She sat up in the bed and stroked her hands over her face. She thought back of what had happened between her and Fletcher when she had gotten home. He had been sleeping in their bed and she had taken of her clothes before she had crawled down next to him. He had woken in the same moment she had laid her arm around him. "Stephanie? Is that you? What time is it?" he had asked with drowsy voice.

"Yes, it is me. The clock is halv six in the morning", she had answered him and kissed his neck. She had then let her hand stroke his chest and he had shivered from her touch.

She did not know why she had chosen to have sex with Fletcher after just a few hours earlier been sleeping with another man. She suspected that it had been her feelings of guilt that had haunted her. Despite that she had to confess to herself that it had felt... good, even really great. It had been a long time since they last had had any kind of intimate contact and she had understood how much she had been missing it as soon as Fletcher had penetrated her.

Of course Fletcher had afterwards been asking where she had been the whole night since he had been trying to get a hold of her by calling her cell phone. When she had not answered it he had called Tanith and China, but the only thing they had been able to answer him was that she had been ending her shift at eight o'clock and droven off in her car. "I was so worried, but at the same time I know you. When you had not got home when I went to bed I decided that you had to run an errand or that you had been stopping by Gordon's house to think things through, since you have been doing that before."

Valkyrie had nodded. "You're right, Fletcher. I had a lot of things to think about, but nontheless I should have called you before. I... I was thinking about us. On how a bad atmosphere it has been between us lately. I love you, Fletcher, and I want this, _we_ , to work. See our sex act as my first step to reconciliation."

Fletcher had been smiling and given her a kiss. "I love you too, Valkyrie. I have also thought a lot about us. I apologize so much if I have seemed absent under this tough period after Gordon's death. You know how much I liked your uncle and his death hit us all very hard. Especially you. I know how close you were each other and I also understand how difficult it must be for you."

"I should also apologize for closing you out when I really should have let you in. I understand now that I am not as strong as I would like to think, but that even I could be using some help sometimes."

"Oh, so the big Stephanie Edgley is asking for help? That I never thought I would hear!" Fletcher had said with a smile on his lips.

"Quiet! You will get late to work if you do not make yourself ready now. See you tonight." She'd given him a last kiss before she'd laid down the head on the pillow and fallen asleep.

Now when she had been sleeping and had a chance to sleep on it, the feelings of guilt did not feel as awful. Sure, she still felt bad over what had happened, but could at the same time rationalize the whole thing with that she had been sad, been needing a fathom to cry out on and another person that knew what she had been going through. Fletcher had never really gotten to know his parents but had in early years ended up in a foster family that he got along great with and that he saw as his parents. Both were still alive and he had good contact with them.

 _If he had had a similar childhood as I had with Gordon, Fletcher would probably understand me better_ , she could not help but think. She got mad at herself for thinking so egoistic, but at the same time it was after all her sorrow and her feelings. No one else could understand how she felt it.

 _Except for Skulduggery..._ said a voice in her head that she ignored.

She took a long shower where she scrubbed away all evidence of what had happened last night. While the showers hot rays cleaned her she came to think of a thing that made her cold inwards. She and Skulduggery had not used any protection! She had been so in her own lust that the thought had never occured to her to ask him... She suspected that the thought had not struck him either.

 _What if she was... pregnant?_

She started to count and soon discovered that the opportunity was there. Considering her menstrual cycle she should be in the period where the chance of becoming pregnant was as biggest. She stroked with her hand over her flat stomach and wondered over what a child would mean for her and Fletcher's future. Did Fletcher even want children? Would they be good parents? Was _she_ willing to put a child to the world? She had always been so worried and ill at ease as soon as someone had mentioned that she would be a great mother and that she and Fletcher should have children.

"No idea to incite myself before I know what will happen. The chance is probably not that big. I have more important things to take care of." She turned off the shower and dried herself before walking into the bedroom where she dressed in her detective-outfit: t-shirt, black jeans and a knee-long coat.

Before she departed to work she made breakfast to herself consisting of yoghurt with muesli, a glass of juice and a toast. She ate under silence and let the sound from the apartment and the world outside wash over her. They got her to calm down and think about something else. As for example that it was today she finally would stand eye to eye with the man that had killed her uncle.

Today she would finally meet Nefarian Serpine in the flesh.

She finished her breakfast and put the dish in the dishwasher before she locked the door and walked out to the car. The car ride to the station did not take long and when she parked by her parking space exactly two o'clock she could see that Tanith was already there, since her motorcycle stood parked on the space next to hers. The thought of meeting her colleague and best friend after everything that had happened made her smile big. She really needed someone to talk to.

Tanith were taller than herself with blonde hair and blue eyes. She always wore a leather coat when she went out to be able to hide her sword that she always wore with her as soon as they were on a mission. Under the coat she wore tight shirts and pants that tightened around her figure and that did not left much to the imagination. This Tanith often used to her advantage when they needed to question someone, especially if this someone was of the male sex. Then Tanith was also very good at being threatening. Valkyrie did not know how many times she had seen her colleague get big, strong men to curl up in fear when she laid her gaze on them.

She stepped out of the car and in the same moment that she stepped through the doors she got jumped on by a young woman with blonde hair that hugged her tightly. "Valkyrie! How are you feeling? You're not hurt, are you?" Tanith pulled away a bit from her so she could study her, but kept her hold on her shoulders. "Fletcher called yesterday and was upset since he could not get a hold of you! What have you been up to now?"

Valkyrie laughed. "You know that it is not me that searches up trouble, trouble searches up me. Anyway, I am feeling fine. Nothing has happened to me, nothing that has anything to do with bodily harm at least."

"But why haven't you answered my messages, in that case? Where have you been all night?! You can not scare me like that!"

Valkyrie did not answer at first. She simply did not know how she should begin telling about what had happened last night and what she had figured out. She was also a little afraid of what Tanith would say and think about what had happened. Would Tanith understand why she'd done as she'd did, or would she become angry and disappointed?

Before she had time to begin telling a man came walking towards them. He was dressed in a white shirt, black vest and black jeans. His face was covered in scars, as if he had been in a fight with a bear or wolf. He stopped behind Tanith and laid his arms around her waist. "Tanith, should you not introduce me to your friend?"

To Valkyrie's big surprise Tanith blushed and released her grip on her to be able to give the man a kiss on the cheek. "Ghastly darling, allow me to introduce my colleague and best friend Stephanie Edgley, or Valkyrie Cain that she rather calls herself nowadays."

"Nice meeting you, Valkyrie. My name is Ghastly Bespoke. Tanith's boyfriend." He shook her hand and held it a few seconds longer than was necessary while he looked her deep in the eyes. "So it is you that are Gordon Edgley's niece that has caught my best friend Skulduggery Pleasant's attention?"

Valkyrie's heart began to beat harder. Did Ghastly know Skulduggery? How could he know that they had met? Skulduggery must have told him about their meeting the evening before. How much had he told Ghastly? Did he know that they had... slept with each other? She could not read any answers on the questions she wanted to ask in Ghastly's face. "I don't know what you..." she began but got interrupted by Tanith.

"Who is this Skulduggery and how do you know him, Valkyrie?"

"We... We met yesterday evening. I gave him a ride home. He was out walking in the rain and I felt sorry for him so I gave him a ride." Valkyrie looked at Tanith. "You have already met him. Skulduggery is Inspector Me."

Tanith stared at Valkyrie for several seconds before she said anything. "Wait a minute... So you mean that the person I have worked side by side with for under several weeks is best friend both with my boyfriend and your uncle Gordon?"

Valkyrie nodded. "It seems that way."

"Excuse me for interrupting, but I need to drive back to Roarhaven now. One of our new prisoners that should have been transported to us early this morning was found dead in his cell yesterday night. I have been here all morning trying to unravel what's happened." Ghastly gave Tanith a kiss on the mouth that made Valkyrie turn her head in embarassment. "We'll see each other later, babe. Nice meeting you, Valkyrie."

Ghastly turned around to leave, but when he had walked just a few steps he stopped. "Oh, that's right! I almost forgot." He put his hand in the pocket of his vest and picked up an envelope. "I was supposed to give this to you. From Skulduggery."

"Oh... Thanks..." Valkyrie said with hesitating voice and recieved the envelope. When Ghastly had disappeared she turned to Tanith with a smile on her lips. " _Boyfriend_ , huh?"

"Hey! I also gotta have fun sometimes, don't I? Besides, I believe in this. And before you say anything, so yes, I am fully aware of been saying so before, but this time I _really mean it_. There is something special with Ghastly."

"Well, he has scars over his whole face."

" _Except_ for those, I mean! I can not explain it, but he feels just like I have always imagined 'Mister Right' to feel like. I am totally aware that I am probably sounding like a cliche now, but he makes me feel beautiful, loved and like I can be myself. I do not have to pretend to be someone that I aren't around him, but I can be myself."

Valkyrie continued to smile and gave her best friend a big hug. "I am happy for your sake. Hope it works out and that you will be happy together."

"Enough talking about me now!" Tanith released Valkyrie and pulled her to their working places. "Now I want to hear everything about your encounter with Inspector Me! Or Skulduggery Pleasant as his real name apparently is. What happened between you two?"

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"Come on! The way Ghastly mentioned you, 'that has caught my best friend Skulduggery Pleasant's attention', indicates that something more must have happened between the two of you than you _just_ giving him a ride home."

Valkyrie blushed and that made Tanith's eyebrows rise so high up that Valkyrie thought they would disappear up in her hair. She knew that she could not back now, that now she _must_ tell Tanith what had happened. Tanith had always been good at reading her and see when there was something she did not tell. "Well... I would lie if I say that it did _not_ happen anything..." she started but interrupted herself.

"Yes?" Tanith said without letting go of her gaze.

"You know that I love Fletcher and that we have been experiencing some problems under our relationship that we've managed to solve, right?" Tanith nodded. "I still want to be together with him, but ever since Gordon died... I don't know, the last few weeks have been tough for us both. We drifted apart from each other, which resulted in that we started to argue more and more. As you probably also have noticed I have been working overtime a lot the last weeks, simply to avoid having to think about never be able to see Gordon again. We stood so close to each other and know that he's gone it's like a piece of me is missing, as if I have lost a piece that never will come back."

Tears began to form in Valkyrie's eyes that she stroked away irritately. She wouldn't start crying now! "Anyway... When I met Skulduggery there by the side of the road... I don't know. We instantly felt drawn to each other, as if we were one and the same. Such an attraction I have never felt towards Fletcher under the years we've been together. We also pretty quickly noticed that we are alike in many ways. The way we talk, how we think... We even have the same job, god dammit! I do not know how to explain it, but I think the attraction we felt for each other is something similiar to what you feel for Ghastly. If I had not been together with Fletcher..."

"You probably would have started a relationship with Skulduggery Pleasant", Tanith finished for her.

Valkyrie nodded. "Yes, and it terrifies me while I at the same time gets filled with excitment, curiosity and... lust. I can not stop thinking about him, Tanith! The way he looked at me, on his velvety voice, how his hands and body felt against mine... It was as if it was _intentional_ that we should meet! As if we are _meant_ for each other! I am so split... I do not know what to believe, think or feel..."

"Now wait a minute... So you mean that you and him... that you _actually_...?"

"Slept with each other? Yes." Valkyrie pulled her hands through her hair in a frustrated gesture. "I cheated on Fletcher yesterday evening and when I came home to him early this morning I felt so bad that I also had sex with Fletcher, as penance!"

Tanith said nothing, just laid her arms around Valkyrie in a comforting embrace. Valkyrie pushed her face against Tanith's shoulder and let the tears flow. She had not dared to release the tears at home, in fear of scaring Fletcher and by mistake say too much. Even though she felt so horrible for what she had done, she had no intention of telling anything to Fletcher. She knew that if he found out their relationship would be over, since he had made clear for her at the beginning of their relationship that he did not accept any kind of infidelity, not even a little kiss.

Tanith stroked her back slowly and whispered things like "Everything is going to be alright, Val", "I am here for you" and "You can do this, you are a strong woman". Her best friend's calming voice made Valkyrie relax and it did not take long before the tears stopped pour so heavily. After yet another moment she felt so calm that she could take a step backwards and dry away the tears that still poured down her cheeks. She took a really deep breath that she kept inside for several seconds before she let it out in a really deep sigh.

"Feeling better?" Tanith wondered and gave Valkyrie a small smile.

Valkyrie nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Tanith. What would I do without you?"

"You would probably be a real wreck by now with wrinkles as long as your arms." Tanith laughed and gave Valkyrie another hug. "Joking aside, Val. How do you feel, _really_? I understand that you must feel awful after what you have done, but as you said yourself I actually understand why you did it. If you ask me it sounds like you needed comfort from another, unknown person that did not know you or what you have gone through. I would even like to go so far as to say that this maybe was just what you needed and that you went through a different kind of therapy."

Valkyrie couldn't help but smile at Tanith's theory. "'Different kind of therapy' was a very interesting way to see the whole thing in, I gotta admit."

Before Tanith had time to respond their boss, China Sorrows, walked into the room. Today she was wearing a close-fitting, green dress that fit tight around her body. Her raven-black hair was out today and her blue eyes radiated irritation. "Cain, Low, there you are! I've been looking for you two."

"Yes, miss Sorrows?" Valkyrie said and stretched herself. "What do you need help with?"

"Please, Valkyrie, I've told you that you don't need to be so formal around me! Anyway, we have a passing that I want you both to check out. One of our prisoners was found dead in his cell yesterday. He was strangled by a for the time being unknown object and the perpetrator is also him for the time being unknown."

"How did he get in here without arousing suspection?" Tanith asked and had now become the assassin that everyone respected and that all criminals feared.

"We do not know. I suspect that he has either bribed one of the guards or that he knows this place so good that he can slither pass our security. Whatever the reason might be till how he managed to murder Nefarian Serpine without being discovered, I want you two to figure out how and why."

Valkyrie's insides grew cold. Had she really been hearing correct? Was Nefarian Serpine, her uncle's killer, really... dead? No, it could not be true! She must have heard wrong. _China must be wrong!_

"Cain, do you listen to what I'm saying?!"

China's hard voice got Valkyrie to twitch and she looked up into China's blue eyes. "So... sorry, miss Sorrows. I... just got... so chocked by the news."

China's face softened a little and she gave Valkyrie's shoulder a light push. "I understand that you have had a few rough weeks, but now it is time to stop mourn and take care of reality, Valkyrie. I know how much you have wanted Gordon's killer to get caught. We _all_ have on the department. Unfortunately someone else got to him first before we managed to put him in prison. It is up to you and Tanith to find the killer. In that way you can continue with your life, that I promise you."

Valkyrie nodded and gave herself a mental bitch slap. She must continue to stay focused and not let her personal feelings take over. If she did that she would never be able to find the murderer and get a closure. She turned towards Tanith and gave her a nod. "Shall we begin, then?"

Tanith smiled and nodded back. "Let's go, partner!"

Both followed China to the morgue that lay in the house next door and when they got there Valkyrie could see Serpine's dead body lay on a stretcher with only a blanket that covered his private parts. His skin was as white as wax and his eyes was bloodshot. Around the neck a nasty, ugly bruise could be seen where he had been strangled. Considering the shape Valkyrie suspected that it could be a belt or something similiar, but she could not be totally sure.

"Who could have a strong enough motive for wanting to kill Serpine?" Valkyrie asked and turned towards Tanith and China after studying Serpine's body.

"Many. He was after all a big maffia boss and ruled over most of the criminal activities in Roarhaven, which was the reason for why Ghastly Bespoke was here earlier today. Serpine would have been imprisoned in Roarhaven until the trial and he would have been picked up early this morning by Ghastly and some others", China answered.

Maffia boss? Valkyrie froze when she came to think about what Skulduggery had told her. He had said that he had angered a maffia boss and it was thanks to that man that his family had lost their lives. He had also said that he finally had managed to capture him and got his revenge. But Serpine could not be the same... or?

"He just got what he deserved. He has been giving out orders of many innocent peoples deaths and even killed some of them himself, like for example your uncle, Valkyrie." Tanith looked at her. "Did you know there's also a rumor that he would have killed one of our collegues wife and child from Roarhaven? This apparently should have happened many years ago, but that doesn't change the fact that Serpine was a cold-blooded killer."

So it was true... Serpine was the man that had killed Skulduggery Pleasant's family. Which also meant that it was Skulduggery himself that had killed Serpine.

 _He had finally got his revenge._


	4. Discoveries

When they walked out from the morgue China left them to meet the warden of Roarhaven. In the same moment that China was lost from sight Tanith turned towards Valkyrie with a meaning gaze. "Spill it."

"What?"

"There is something you know about Serpine that you do not tell us other. Do you have any suspects?"

"Well, myself for example. I have a pretty strong motive, do I not? He after all killed my uncle. I also find my way around here without any problems since this is my workplace after all."

"And we all know that it can not have been you. I was after all still here after you left and I did not see you again until you walked through the door an hour ago. Furthermore we all know you, Valkyrie. You would never kill someone, unless you had to. You are not a cold-blooded murderer like me."

"True, but sometime we all shall lose controll and do things we have never done before." Valkyrie sighed. "But you're right. I did not do it, even if I will confess that there was many times under the first week from where Serpine was captured that I did not have anything else in my head than thoughts about how I would make him suffer most."

Tanith laid her hand on Valkyrie's shoulder. "We have all been there, Valkyrie. You are not the first and you will not be the last. Come, let's check out the report and see if someone has seen something that can be useful." They sat down at their desks where a copy of Serpine's death was. It was really thin, since there was not much to report.

Valkyrie started to read. The guard that had had the responsibility of guarding the corridor to Serpine's cell had not seen or heard anything unusual. The only thing that had happened was that a man in a long, brown coat with red hair, a scarf and sunglasses had come in around 8 pm just after Valkyrie had ended her shift. He had asked some questions to the guard since he had stated that he was lost and had some trouble with his car. The guard had answered all the mans questions and when he had turned his back against the man to fix some papers, the man had disappeared when the guard turned back his attention towards the corridor. The guard had not heard any strange noises or seen movements that could indicate that the man had gotten into Serpine's cell, so he had simply thought that the man had walked outside to wait for his help which he had been allowed to call for from the guards phone.

There also was a report from the pathologist. In it, it stood that Serpine had been strangled by an unknown material that could be anything from a belt to a coarsely rope. Unless they did not uncover the murder weapon the pathologist could not say what had been used in the murder. He concluded his report by writing "Whoever killed Nefarian Serpine, felt a really huge hatred towards him. An enormous strength is required to cause the damage caused to Mister Serpine."

Valkyrie laid down the report. So that's how Skulduggery had entered, without anyone recognizing him. He had used a wig to hide his natural hair together with a scarf and sunglasses so no one would recognize his face. Smart, Valkyrie got to admit. Furthermore it was not strange that Skulduggery had managed to sneak past the guard without being seen, since he had been working together with Tanith under several weeks and spent a lot of time in those weeks here at their department.

"It seems like this mysterious man that talked to the guard is our killer. How he got out again is still a mystery, but I am sure that if we examine the corridor and the area around Serpine's cell we will be able to find one or more clues to our little mystery." Tanith looked up at Valkyrie and got a pensive wrinkle in her face. "How are you, Valkyrie? You seem concerned over something."

Valkyrie nodded slowly and once again looked at the report. Should she say what she suspected, or keep it to herself? She knew that if she told her suspicions to Tanith there was a big risk that Skulduggery would end up in jail and for some reason she did not want that. Sure, he had broken the law and commited a serious crime, but she understood _why he had done it._ Did she really want to put the person that had avenged her uncle behind bars?

"Well... I think I know how he managed to get out again. Behind the cells there is an emergency exit that is well camouflaged. An outsider would probably think it is a broom cupboard or something similiar, but someone who works or has worked here or has seen the blueprints over the building knows it's an emergency exit. Since this mystery man seems to have been here before it doesn't seem strange that he knows about the door. What do you think?"

Tanith nodded. "Now when you say it..." She once again looked down at the report and stroked her finger over a paragraph. "It stands here that they have gone over the whole building both inside and outside. They have not yet been able to discover any signs of the perpetrator. He seems to know how to not leave any trace behind."

"What if he didn't throw off the disguise outside here? What if he drove off in an getaway car and dumped the things a bit away from here? I think we should scan the roads around the station and see if we find anything."

"Great idea! What made you think in these tracks, Valkyrie?"

Valkyrie shrugged and stood up. "Because I would have done in a similiar way."

They walked outside to Valkyrie's car and drove away from the station. Before Tanith had time to ask which way they would investigate first, Valkyrie turned towards the exit to Haggard. She followed the same way she' been driving the evening before, minus the stop she'd been doing at a fast food place where she'd ordered a late dinner consisting of a hamburger, fries and a soda. She let her gaze swipe over both sides of the road to see if anything struck out. "Do you see anything that doesn't seem to belong here?" she asked Tanith that shook her head.

"No, not yet. Unless you count used condoms, sanitary napkins and fast food packages as things that stands out?"

Valkyrie laughed. "Please, spare me the details!"

"You really are missing out on something here, Valkyrie. You should see what people are throwing around them, it's pretty disgusting I will promise you!"

"I can imagine, Tanith." Valkyrie let her gaze swipe over the roadside on her side and thought she could distinguish something red in the ditch that made her slow down. "Tanith... Do you see what I see?"

Tanith followed the finger that she stretched out and nodded when she saw what Valkyrie pointed at. "Yes, I do. It looks like a wig. Do you think it could be the same wig that we're searching for?"

"I do." Valkyrie stopped the car and then turned off the engine before she and Tanith stepped out to investigate what Valkyrie had gotten sight of.

Slowly and carefully not to hurt themselves or contaminate the location, both of the women walked down into the ditch. When they came closer Valkyrie could see that she had been right. In the grass lay a red wig and a few meters away from it she could also see a pair of black sunglasses, a scarf and a brown leather belt. Quickly Valkyrie scanned the area to see if anything more of interest could be considered as evidence, but could not see anything else. "Tanith, do you by any chance have some rubber gloves? I think we have found what we're looking for and I do not want to sabotage any eventual evidence that can lead us to the killer."

"Sure." Tanith took out a pair of rubber gloves from one of her coat pockets and gave them to Valkyrie that quickly put them on.

Carefully she stretched out her hand and touched the wig slightly. She could not see any strands of hair or spots in it, which did not have to mean that there were no evidence in it. She then proceeded to the other objects and examined them. She could not see any trace of evidence on any of them, but then she was no crime scene investigator. They had people down at the department that had as mission to analyze all evidence that came in and that could tie one or more persons to a crime. Her and Tanith's tasks was to gather evidence, arrest and interrogate suspects and other people that could be of interest for the investigations.

"Would you like to pick up a pair of bags that I can put the evidence in? I think I have some left in the tailgate."

"Be right back." Valkyrie could hear how Tanith walked over to the car and hear the sound of when the tailgate opened.

The reason to why she had asked Tanith pick up the bags was so she could get some seconds for herself. Now she knew for certain that it had been Skulduggery that had killed Serpine. Her gut feeling told her that it was so and now when she had seen the disguise that had been used with her own eyes the feeling only strengthen. She would not have been able to see these objects the evening before since it had been too dark.

She put up a timeline in her head. She had left work at 8 pm, which was prior to when the man with the red hair had entered the station. It had taken her roughly five minutes to get to the fast food place and another twenty minutes/half an hour for her to order, recieve and eat her food. This meant that Skulduggery had had about twenty to thirty minutes to stall the guard, sneak in to Serpine, kill him, sneak out again and get rid of the disguise.

 _Conclusion: Skulduggery had with a good margin plenty of time to carry out the murder on Serpine just in time to get to the place where I picked him up_ , thought Valkyrie.

"Here's the bags, Val." Tanith was back and gave her some brown evidence bags that Valkyrie lay down all four evidences in. One object per bag, so that any evidence that might be on the objects wouldn't mix with each other and thus be destroyed.

"Good. Best that we get back to the station and hand over these evidences to China. She will guaranteed be happy to be able to tell the warden that we have managed to get a clue."

They went to the car again with the evidence in safe storage in Tanith's lap. As soon as they had came back to the station they could see the warden come out through the entrance with China close behind. He looked pleased and it made Valkyrie happy that the meeting had seemed to went well. If it was something they did not need now it was that other departments talked condescending about them.

In the same moment that the warden had shaken hands with China and driven away in his own car, Valkyrie and Tanith walked over to China. Tanith handed over the bags with a smile. "China, we have managed to locate and collect the disguise and what we believe is the murder weapon that Serpine's killer used. He had thrown away everything in the ditch a few minutes car ride from here."

China took the bags with a surprised expression in her face. "That was quick. How did you manage to find out where they were?"

Tanith laid her arm around Valkyrie's shoulders. "Our dear master detective Valkyrie Cain managed to figure out that the killer wore a disguise and wondered over how she herself would have done if she was the killer. She simply followed her instincts."

"Great work, Cain and Low. I will immediately make sure that the evidence is given to the lab so they can be examined. Hopefully there is some trace on them that can lead us to the murderer." China gave Valkyrie a smile before she turned around and walked inside with the evidence bags to the lab.

Just as China had disappeared Valkyrie's phone rang. She picked it up and could see Fletcher's name on the display. "Hi, darling!"

"Hello. Am I disturbing?"

"No, I have time. Has something happened?"

"No, not at all! Everything's alright. I am calling because I will be really late tonight. I and the colleagues will first have an evening meeting between 5 pm and 7 pm and then go out to an unplanned After Work. I do not know how long it will last, but I'll call you when I am on my way home. And you do not need to worry, I will take a cab home."

"Okay, thank you for calling and telling. Love you. See you tonight!"

"I love you too, Valkyrie. Say hi to Tanith!" Fletcher hung up.

Valkyrie put back the phone in her pocket. When she looked up she could see Tanith's smiling face. "What?"

"Nothing." Tanith continued to smile. "It's just that... Well, you two always sound so cute when you talk in the phone. You are like an old married couple!"

"We're not!" Valkyrie shook her head and walked into the station.

She sat down at her desk and started to write her report about how she had found the disguise and murder weapon that Serpine's murderer had been using. She was also forced to write down how she had managed to figure out where the objects could be and how she had been doing when she had packed the evidence. When she was done she discovered to her surprise that the clock was almost 6 pm!

She read through the report one last time before she stood up and walked over to China's office. She knocked on the door and when she got a "Come in!" as answer she opened the door and stepped in. China sat behind her desk and typed on her computer but looked up when Valkyrie walked in. "Valkyrie. I once again would like to congratulate you and Tanith for your good work. Now maybe we finally will be able to get somewhere with this case!"

"Thank you, China. I am here to hand over my report about how I proceeded with finding and collecting the evidence." Valkyrie handed her the report and sat down in the visitors chair in front of the desk.

"It looks good." China nodded and put away the report. "I am going to let you off for the rest of the evening. Go home and rest, Valkyrie. That's an order. Understood?"

Valkyrie looked surprised at China, but did not dare to protest. "Thank you, miss Sorrows." She stood up and bowed. "Then I'll see you tomorrow with new, fresh takes!"

China laughed and stood up. She walked over to Valkyrie and lifted up her head so she could look her in the eyes. "You are a really good detective, Valkyrie Cain. The best we have at the department. But you are only human, just like the rest of us. Even the best of us need to rest sometimes."

Valkyrie once again got surprised when China laid her arms around her in a tender hug. "Take care of yourself, you hear me? I know what you're going through, since I lost my brother several years ago. He also got murdered and I did everything I could to put the guilty person to justice. The pain never goes away completely, it's there to remind us about what we've had and lost, but it gets better. I promise. Now then, go home!"

"As you wish." Valkyrie nodded and walked out from China's office with the thoughts spinning in her head.

She had no idea that China had had a brother or that he had been murdered, just like Gordon... Suddenly Valkyrie saw China in a totally different light. Now she understood why her boss always worked so hard and why she did everything she could to make sure that the guilty would get caught. She just like Valkyrie wanted the criminals to atone for their crimes, no matter how small or big they were.

"See you tomorrow!" Valkyrie waved goodbye to Tanith and walked to her car.

On the way home she thought through everything that had happened during the day. So much new information, insights and impressions... She was unsure of where she stood in all of it. She felt it like she was standing with one foot at eaither side and couldn't decide which of them she should go over to. She had always wanted to imprison criminals that had done wrong, but this time the criminal was a close friend to her dead uncle and that according to her had not really done anything wrong. She also cared for the criminal, even though she shouldn't. She did not know him, even if she in a strange way still did. Their only night together had contained so much solidarity, laughter, happiness, tears, affinity and...

"Stop! It's for the best that I forget about it! It was a mistake and it will not happen again!"

 _But deep inside you wish that it will do just that..._ said a voice deep inside her subconscious which she tried to ignore. _You can not stop thinking about him. On his appearance, on his laughter and on his velvet voice. How his lips felt against yours and how your bodies seemed to melt together..._

"Damn!" Valkyrie hit her hand as hard as she could in the steering wheel. The pain got her thoughts to clear and she could push back the voice deep down into her subconscious again. Tears of anger, shame and confusion formed in her eyes but she didn't let them out. She wasn't going to cry over this anymore!

In the same moment that she parked the car on her parking lot and unlocked the door to the apartment she gave out a deep sigh of relief. Finally home! The only thing she wanted to do now was to cook herself a good dinner, sit down in front of the TV and just relax. She did not want to have to think anymore about what had happened, but just turn the page and start a new chapter together with Fletcher.

She hang off the coat and was just about to walk to the kitchen, when she saw something white which sticked up from one of the pockets. She frowned her eyebrows and took up the object. It was a white envelope with her name written in the middle with a winding handwriting. That's right! She had totally forgot the letter Ghastly had given her when they'd met at the station. He had said that it was from Skulduggery and she could not help but wonder what he could have been writing to her.

"So much for not thinking about him anymore..."

She took the envelope with her to the kitchen and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. She slowly opened the envelope and then pulled out the letter. It consisted of two paper sheets full of written text and in the same moment she started to read the memories of their time together last night returned. Not just their lovemaking, but also the car ride that had taken them to Skulduggery's house. The tears that before had tried to escape her now came back and poured down her cheeks. She somehow managed to avoid wetting down the letter while she read.

 _Dear Valkyrie Cain_

 _It is I who shall thank you. I have never either been doing something alike under the years I have been living on this earth. What we did, no what we_ felt _tonight is something I never before have experienced. Not even with my late wife._

 _It hurts me to hear that you do not want to meet me any more times. I respect your decision and understand if you see what we did as a mistake. If you are happy with your partner you should of course invest in him. I will not look down on you for that decision, that I hope you understand. I respect you as a person and want you to be happy. That's the least I can wish for Gordon's niece and even if we only got this one night together I want you to know that it was one of the_ best nights in my life _._

 _As you yourself said we may have been able to know each other better if our lives had looked different. I would lie if I did not wish that I in some way would be able to see you again, if so for only a few minutes or seconds. Even since I woke up this morning and discovered that you had disappeared I have felt... lonely. Sure, I have been alone before under many years, but after once again having someone to talk to and share my thoughts with I have really understood how lonely I've been since my family was taken from me._

 _I will disappear from Haggard for a little while. I have been assigned an undercover mission as a spy for my department and will be away for_ at least _a year. If you want to talk to me you can always turn to my best friend Ghastly Bespoke. He is the only one except for our boss that knows where I will be during the mission and he can make sure that your messages gets through. I will also put away a spare key to my house under the porch in a small box if you would like to visit me in spirit._

 _Before I finish this letter it is one more thing that I would like you to know. I hope you will not hate me for what I am about to tell you, since I remember what you said in the car about all criminals deserves to sit in jail because they otherwise gets the easy way out. In any other case I would agree with you, but in this special case I unfortunately can't do that._

 _I suspect that when you read this letter already knows that Nefarian Serpine is dead. He got murdered in his cell yesterday evening by a man with red wig, scarf and black sunglasses. That man is_ me _. In the same moment that I found out that Nefarian Serpine was Gordon's murderer and that he had been captured and imprisoned at your department I understood that I had my chance. You have no idea how long I have waited to get revenge on my dead family. I simply couldn't just stand and watch Serpine rot away in jail, but he had to atone for what he had done._

 _So... I sneaked into his cell and strangled him with a belt I had brought with me. The feeling of seeing how his life slowly drained from him while I tightened the belt harder and harder... I simply can not describe it. You must have experienced something similiar yourself to understand._

 _Do you remember that you wondered who I am?_ The truth is I am a dark person, Valkyrie. _I have killed before. Serpine was not my first and he will not be my last. Had you felt as drawn to me if you had known this the same moment you catched a glimpse of me by the side of the road, or had you drove away as fast as you possibly could from there? I would like to think that you despite that had given me that ride._

I hope so, with all my heart. If you had not done that, I do not know where I had been now. _You have given me a reason to live again, Valkyrie. I thank you for that, even if I know that I will never be able to pay back this favour that you have done for me. I just want you to know what you have done for me before we part forever._

 _I hope you will be happy with the man you have nominated to your partner. Take care of yourself and don't do anything I wouldn't do. I wish you all happiness and love._

 _With kindest regards, Inspector Me, alias Skulduggery Pleasant_

* * *

 **Oh, a cliffhanger! I am so dirty ;)  
I really hope you guys like this story so far since from now on things will become really interesting... ;) and I would like it if you reviewed, since it helps me :) And I hope you won't kill me for making China act nice in this chapter...**


	5. Happy News

**So here it is! Finally we are getting to the juicy bits ;) From here on out the story will progress _a lot_. I am not sure how many more chapters there will be, but at least 2 more, maybe 3 :) We'll just have to wait and see!**

 **I hope I managed to recreate Desmond's silliness. If not, I am sorry!**

 **I hope you've enjoyed it this far and I would appreciate it if you took your time to review, so I know what you think :)**

* * *

Valkyrie put down the letter on the kitchen table and then put her hands in her face. She sobbed high and many of her tears fell down on the kitchen table. To get a glimpse in Skulduggery's life, thoughts and feelings in this way was... sad. She could never had guessed that Skulduggery felt this bad. She did not want to think about what kind of thoughts he must have thought to come up with the decision he had made.

And now... Now she wanted to see him more than ever! She wanted to hug him, tell him it was okay, that she did not hate him at all! She wanted him to know that she would not have done anything different despite what he had done. She did not regret their evening together and _nothing_ would change that.

Maybe it wasn't too late? She stopped crying and stood up. Maybe he had not yet left. Maybe there still was a chance that she would have time to say goodbye to him and tell him how she felt. Maybe they could be... friends?

Valkyrie ran down to her car and drove in express speed towards Cemetery Road. The drive there did not take her many minutes, but for her they felt like hours. All the time she drove she was on the lookout for another car that was driving away from Haggard, in the hope of seeing if the driver was Skulduggery. She did not meet any other cars and in the same moment that she saw the conture of Skulduggery's house her hope disappeared as quickly as when you burst a baloon.

When she'd been here yesterday she'd got a glimpse of a black car that she now in hindsight understood was a Bentley Continental of 1954's year model. Where it'd stood yesterday now only was an empty space with weak contures where the wheels had stood.

The tears once again rose in her eyes but she stepped out of the car before they had time to get out. She walked over to the porch and bent down so she could see under it. There, a few centimeters in, she could see the conture of a box. It was black and and as long as her hand. She stretched in and managed to just reach it with her fingertips. She pulled it out and opened the box. In there laid just a key. She took it up and walked over to the door where she put in the key to the lock and turned. The lock unlocked with a weak clicking sound and she walked into the house where she had experienced so much in just a few hours and that it had not been even a day since she'd been in last.

The darkness fell upon her in the same moment as the door closed behind her. The darkness did not scare her, on the other hand it felt welcomed. Among all the blackness she could be anyone. Here was nothing that could hurt her, nothing that could judge or condemn her. Here was nothing except for the silence...

She slowly walked through the hallway and used the flashlight that she always had with her to see where she was going. Everything looked just as she remembered. She could feel his scent in the whole house and it once again got her to remember Skulduggery as he had looked during their lovemaking. How his body had moved with hers, how his muscles had tensed and his eyes... How they had shone with an inner glow that only she could awaken, if she would believe what stood in his letter.

She let her gaze sweep over the sofa where everything had begun before she continued to the bedroom. In the doorway she stopped by the sight that met her and new tears build in her eyes. These were not tears of shame, sadness or confussion but of happiness. On the bed Skulduggery had laid out petals that formed a heart and in the middle lay a picture of her and Gordon. On the picture they both smiled and hugged each other. Under the picture Skulduggery had wrote " _Thank you so much. You two changed my life for the better._ "

Valkyrie took up the picture and stroked it slowly with one finger. She remembered where the picture had been taken and why. They'd been celebrating that Gordon's latest book had become number one on the best selling lists and her mum thought they should celebrate with a photo. A few weeks later Gordon was dead and she'd lost a very close friend.

She thought she knew why Skulduggery had this picture. Gordon had asked her mum to take several copies of it, since he on one hand wanted Valkyrie to have her own copy, but also himself and another one to her parents. It was not entirely impossible that he had taken yet another copy that he'd given to Skulduggery, since she knew how much he had been bragging when he talked about her with others. Especially when he'd been drinking.

"Oh, Gordon, what should I do? I am so confussed... I love Fletcher and want to be with him, while I am attracted to Skulduggery. He is Fletcher's total opposite. Is that why I am attracted to him? Because I want some excitment in my life? Am I starting to get bored?" Valkyrie laid back the picture on the bed. "If only you were here... I miss you so much. With you I could talk about anything without having to worry what you would think. You always said your opinions and thoughts about things. With you I could ask and tell things that no one else wanted to listen to."

Valkyrie could imagine what her uncle would have answered her if he had heard her now. _Pull yourself together, Stephanie! Life is not a dance on roses and it is when we are feeling as worst that we get a reason for wanting to live. It's the setbacks in life that makes us to who we are. If we never encounters setbacks we can never grow as humans. What you decides to do with your life is entirely up to you. Whatever choices you make I will always respect and be proud of you._

She sighed deep and looked one last time at the picture before she turned around and walked out of the bedroom. She laid down on the couch and closed her eyes. She let her thoughts wander freely in an attempt to sort them out and figure out what she should do. She wanted to continue have a relationship with Fletcher, but was it really because she loved him _in that way_ or was it because she knew where she had him and could feel safe in the knowledge of knowing he would be there for her when she needed it? She had promised herself to give their relationship a new chance, but after everything she had learned during the day she did not know what to do.

She still wanted to meet Skulduggery again. Not to experience the sexual attraction that they had experienced, but simply because she... liked him. There was something special about him, that she had already felt the first time their eyes had met. She now understood that the reason why she was attracted to him was because she had finally met someone that understood her and had went through similiar things. With Skulduggery she did not need to pretend or play a role. It was like Tanith had said when she described Ghastly: she could be herself with Skulduggery's presence and it frightened her since she had never let anyone else come as close to her as he had been allowed.

An insight hit her and got her to sit up in the couch with a jerk. Could it be that she was... _in love with Skulduggery Pleasant?_ She had heard about love at first sight, but had not believed in it before but dismissed it as romantic drivel. But now when she thought about it, it did no longer seem like nonsense.

 _She had fallen in love with another man._

"God... What have I now wound up in?" Valkyrie said and sighed while she rubbed her face. "Now you've really put yourself in deep trouble, Valkyrie Cain ..."

* * *

The weeks passed and Valkyrie did her best to keep the facade up for both Fletcher and her colleagues, but mostly to herself. Their relationship had never been better and Valkyrie did her best to forget Skulduggery and their night together. She had not made any attempts to try to contact him, since she was afraid of what could possibly happen. Instead she had put all that frustration on her work and it payed off. They had never before caught so many criminals.

Speaking of criminals... To Valkyrie's big happiness they had not managed to find any useful evidence from the disguise that Skulduggery had wore, which meant that Serpine's death still was under investigation.

One day roughly two months since their night together Valkyrie started to feel nauseous each morning when she woke up. The first days she dismissed it as a delayed stress reaction, but when she woke up the fourth day with nausea she understood that it could be something else. Something that she earnestly had hoped would not be true...

On her way home from work that evening she drove past a drugstore where she bought a pregnancy test. She did not dare to watch the package until she came home. Fletcher was at home when she opened the front door and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. She did not say anything about what she suspected, since she did not want to disappoint him in case the test was negative.

She walked into the bathroom and forced herself to read how she should do. The test should rather be taking in the morning, but she suspected that it did not matter. If she really was pregnant it would show anyway, since it had gone such a long time since her last menstruation.

She peed on the stick and put it on the basin. It had stood that she needed to wait a few minutes before the result would be seen and those where the longest minutes in her life. Under the minutes it took before she could read the test so many thoughts had time to circulate through her head. If she was not pregnant she had nothing to worry about. If she was... Did she want the child? How would Fletcher react? What did _he_ want? They had never talked about building a family and she did not know what he thought about the thought of being a father.

Valkyrie took a deep breath before she closed her eyes hard. When she at last dared to look at the stick she thought her heart would stop beating. There it was. The plus that proved what she had known all along.

 _She was pregnant._

But the question was: who was the father? She had also had unprotected sex with Fletcher, so the child could be either his or Skulduggery's. She would not be able to know who the father was until the child was born. _If_ she gave birth to it, would say. She still did not know what she thought about this news.

On shaky legs she stood up and took the pregnancy test out with her. In the same moment that Fletcher caught a glimpse of her where he sat in the living room he stood up and walked over to her. "Stephanie, what is it? What's happened?"

Valkyrie did not answer. She _could not_ answer. She felt it as if someone had taped her mouth shut. What should she say? She took a harder grip on the test before she looked Fletcher in the eyes. "Fletcher... I have something to tell."

"What is it? Has something terrible happened? You are so pale!" Fletcher grabbed her hands and first then noticed that she held something in her hand. "What is that?"

Valkyrie lifted up the test so Fletcher could see it. "I am pregnant, Fletcher. We are going to have a child."

In the moment that those words escaped her lips Valkyrie began to cry. To her surprise it was not tears of sadness, but tears of happiness. As soon as she had said those eight magic words to Fletcher she knew that she would keep the child. It did not matter who the father was. A life was growing inside of her right now and she _could not_ let go of the fantastic that just now occurred inside of her.

Fletcher just stared at her in chock. He first stared at her, then on the pregnancy test and back at her. "Am... am I going to be a daddy?"

Valkyrie nodded. "Yes. We're going to become parents, Fletcher. We're going to be a family."

A smile could now be seen in Fletcher's face and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. "Valkyrie, you do not know what this means to me! I don't know what to say... except that it's fantastic!"

Valkyrie laughed and hugged Fletcher back. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For wanting the child. I was worried that you would ask me to get rid of it. That you did not want the child, that you were not ready to become a father. Thank you, Fletcher. It makes everything so much easier for me. I am going to keep the child and do everything in my power to make it survive."

"Why shouldn't I want it, Stephanie? I've always wanted to be a dad. I just didn't think it would occur this early in life. How long gone are you?"

"If I should guess? Around eight weeks. I think I became pregnant that morning two months ago when I woke you up. We did not use any protection then, but has done so the times we've had sex after that morning."

"Two months... Then you are pretty long gone. We must reserve an appointment by the midwife so we'll know more exakt! I also must tell the good news to my parents! They will be super happy!" Fletcher ran away to call and left Valkyrie standing alone.

 _What have I now dragged myself into? What if it will show on the child that it is not Fletcher's? How do I explain that to him? But... it is after all a pretty big chance that the child will look a lot like me, so maybe it won't matter... Furthermore there is nothing that says that the child will act like Skulduggery if it now is his..._

Valkyrie pushed down the unwelcomed thoughts deep down in her subconscious and picked up her own phone. It was for the best to get the whole thing over with. The signals echoed in her ear and when her mothers voice was heard in the phone's speakers Valkyrie was filled with a feeling that told her she did the right thing. "Melissa Edgley."

"Hi, mum! It's Stephanie."

"Stephanie, honey! How are you? It was some time since we last spoke. How's work? How's Fletcher?"

"Calm down, mum! I can only answer one question at a time! I am fine, no problems at work and Fletcher is like Fletcher always is." She hesitated a few seconds and her mum noticed that it was something she did not tell.

"Honey, has something happened?"

"Is dad nearby?"

"Yes, why do you wonder?"

"Because he needs to hear what I'm about to tell."

"Desmond! Come here, please. Your daughter's on the phone and has something to tell!"

Valkyrie could hear footsteps that approached and soon her father's voice could be heard in the background. "Alright, honey, you're on speaker now. What is it you want to tell?"

"Mum, dad... You're going to become grandparents. I am pregnant."

The silence that followed you would be able to touch, so thick it was. So much time passed that Valkyrie thought her parents had fainted when her father said "Excuse me? Did I hear right? My daughter... pregnant? I am going to be a... grandpa?"

"Darling, that's wonderful news! Does Fletcher know?" her mother asked before her father had time to start one of his crazy monologues.

"Yes, and he is as happy as you, if not more. I do not yet know how long gone I am since I just found out a little while ago. I'll make an appointment at the midwife tomorrow and we'll see. I however believe that I am at least eight weeks pregnant."

"That far? Wow!"

"Stephanie, is the child planned? I really do hope that Fletcher will take his responsibility and not leave you in the middle of the pregnancy! Then he'll wish he'd never been born! Tell him that, are you so kind?"

"Desmond!"

"It's okay, mum. Thanks dad, it makes me happy to hear that you are already protecting your grandchild. No, the baby was not planned but came as a happy surprise." Valkyrie felt how tears of happiness build in her eyes and she stroked them away. She did not want to cry when her parents heard.

"I am an Edgley and we Edgley's do not back from anything! Take care of yourself now, sweetheart. You know we're here for you, right? You can call us anytime on the day and you can talk to us about everything. Maybe not so much to me about this with children and giving birth, but you can always talk to your mother. We are here."

"Thank you, dad, mum. I love you both. I will call you when I have talked to the midwife. Bye!"

"Bye, darling!" her parents said and hung up.

The evening continued with Fletcher and Valkyrie starting to plan for the baby's arrival. What needed to be purchased? "In first hand we should buy a stroller, a changing table, a car seat and some clothes for the first weeks. Yeah! I also need to obtain mother clothing since I won't be able to use my normal clothes when my stomach begins to grow."

"If you ask me I think it's best if you take your mum with you when you're going to shop clothes both to yourself and the baby. As you know I am not a person you want with you when you're out shopping."

"It's not that bad and it would be good for you to get to decide. We are after all two who are going to share the responsibility."

Fletcher shook his head. "No, it's better that you get someone with you that can this with children. Furthermore I believe that your mum would appreciate being alone with you for a whole day since it was such a long time since you two did something together."

"Okay, you win. But just because you are so good at giving me that puppy-eye gaze!" Valkyrie laughed and gave him a kiss.

* * *

Time passed and Valkyrie's stomach continued to grow. The visits to the midwife went well and Valkyrie found herself longing for the ultrasound since she would be able to see her child for the first time. She had been on several shopping rounds with her mum and Tanith had also followed some of the times. Their bedroom was right now cluttered with a baby bed, a new mini-wardrobe and a stroller that Tanith had been together with her and Fletcher and selected. The wardrobe was bristling with clothes but even some toys and pacifiers. Valkyrie wanted to be sure that everything was ready before the baby's arrival.

"I can not believe that we are on our way to the midwife to make an ultrasound! How do you think the child will look like? Will it be moving? Will we hear the heart beat?" Fletcher looked at her from the corner of his eyes with a nervous smile on his lips.

"Concentrate on the driving", Valkyrie said and stroked her stomach slowly. She had since some days back start to feel the childs movements. Not much, but enough for her to know that the child was feeling well.

"Sorry, I'm just so nervous!"

"Take it easy, it'll be fine." Valkyrie laid her hand on Fletcher's knee and pushed it slightly. "Remember that we are two in this. I am as nervous as you, I understand how you feel."

Fletcher nodded and sighed deep. "I am calm now."

They parked and walked into the waiting room. Valkyrie stroked her stomach while they waited and could feel a faint movement against her hand. She smiled and found herself wishing Skulduggery was there and got to experience this with her. If the child now was his he had all the right to be part of the process, but at the same time she knew that if she had contacted him and asked him to come with her and Fletcher she would be forced to tell the truth. That was something she did not want to do...

They got called in from a midwife with darkbrown hair and green eyes. Her name was Sandra. "Would you Valkyrie be so kind and sit down on the bunk over there and pull up your t-shirt while I prepare a little?"

Valkyrie did as she had been told and took Fletcher's hand. She looked him in the eyes and gave him a nervous smile. He gave her an equally nervous smile back before he turned his attention to Sandra. "So... How does this work?"

Sandra came over to them with a jelly-like cream in her hand that she smeared over Valkyrie's stomach. "This cream makes it easier for me to see the child. I will be using a machine that evokes a picture of the child on this screen. It does not hurt at all and will only take a few minutes."

Sandra pulled forth a machine next to Valkyrie before she took up a thing that looked like a vacuum cleaner nozzle and put it on Valkyrie's smudgy stomach. She moved it around a little before she said "There we have it!"

Valkyrie could not tear her gaze from the screen. There she could see the shape of a twenty week old baby. She could see faint movements and it looked like the baby was sucking its thumb. Tears of happiness poured down her cheeks while she felt a stitch of remorse for Skulduggery not being here and experiencing this with her. Because now, when she got to see the child for the first time, her gut feeling told her that this child was the product of hers and Skulduggery's night together.

"Congratulations, it seems as if you're expecting a healthy little girl. Have you thought of any names yet?"

"Alice. Her name is Alice." Valkyrie did not know where the name came from, but in the same moment she uttered it, it felt right.

When they got home again with a picture of Alice from the ultrasound Valkyrie excused herself and told Fletcher she needed to make an errand. "I won't be gone that long, at most two hours."

"Okay, see you later!" Fletcher gave her a kiss on the cheek and waved at her when she drove away.

The drive to Roarhaven took her around fifty minutes. She parked outside the police station and walked in. The first she met was the person she was looking for. "Stephanie! Or sorry, your name is Valkyrie now. Nice to meet you again! What gives me the honour?" asked Ghastly Bespoke and hugged her. "Congratulations, by the way!"

Valkyrie smiled and hugged him back. "Thanks. Could you do me a favour? I need to borrow a copier, an envelope and a paper. I want to send a message to Skulduggery and he told me you were the one I should turn to then."

"Of course. Follow me." Ghastly led her into his office and produced an envelope, a paper and a pencil. "The copier stands there. Tell me when you're done and I'll make sure the letter gets to him."

"Thank you", said Valkyrie and began as soon as Ghastly had left the room. First she copied the picture and while the copier worked she wrote a short letter consisting of only fifteen words. When she was done she put down the picture and the letter in the envelope and closed it.

"Done?" Ghastly turned towards her when he heard she came out.

Valkyrie nodded. "Yes. Thank you so much."

Ghastly smiled and gave her a hug. "No problem."

On her way home Valkyrie thought on the letter she had wrote. How would Skulduggery react? Only time would knew for certain.

" _Skulduggery, we planted a seed together. It's a little girl and her name is Alice."_


	6. Childbirth

**Warning! This chapter contains childbirth! You've been warned!**

 **We're almost at the end of the story now! It's going to be 2 more chapters. Hope you've liked it this far! :) and I do apologize if I did a bad job with Clarabelle, since I think she's so funny to read about, but hard to write about...**

* * *

Valkyrie never got an answer to her letter that she had sent to Skulduggery and the last weeks of her pregnancy she started to understand that she probably wouldn't get any. Maybe Skulduggery hadn't even got the letter? It was not impossible that it had been lost along the way.

When she had had around eight weeks left of the pregnancy she had stopped working, partly because her stomach had become pretty large but also because she could not work as she'd done before. She could not lift heavy, catch up criminals that tried to flee from them and she had began to get problems with driving. She also found herself get easily tired when she did strained things, which combined with the other had made her take out maternity leave.

She had spent her days off with taking care of herself, walk long, slow walks and swim now and then at Haggard's indoor swimming pool to keep herself fit. Sandra, her midwife had told her that it was just good for herself and the child if she continued to exercise since it would ease her childbirth.

She also read a lot of books about what happens with the child in the stomach, about childbirths and the first years with your child. She wanted to know as much as possible about what it means to become a mother and what she should be expecting. Then she had of course got a lot of advice and tricks from her mother, which had helped her a lot.

Today Alice had been kicking and turning a lot, which made Valkyrie to believe that she was impatient and wanted to get out. "Calm down, sweetie. I want to meet you and Fletcher wants it too. You simply have to have patience. But that of course", said Valkyrie and stroked her stomach. "You may have get my impatience and in that case it will be a real challenge to raise you..."

As if Alice agreed with her mother she turned half a turn which got Valkyrie to feel sick. She closed her eyes and waited for the nausea to pass. "Yeah yeah, you do not have to exaggerate... It's just two more weeks till you arrive."

In the same moment the apartment door was unlocked and Fletcher walked in. When he saw her his face beamed with a big smile. "There are my two favourite girls! How are you feeling today?"

Valkyrie smiled and stood up. "We are fine. Your daughter is starting to become impatient, she wants to get out. She has been very active all day."

"That's my girl!" Fletcher bent down and gave Valkyrie's stomach a kiss. "Hello, sweetie. Daddy is home now. Have you been annoying your mum today?"

"Hello! What about me? Don't I deserve some love?" Valkyrie pouted her lips.

"Come here, darling." Fletcher laid his arms around Valkyrie and gave her a long kiss that made butterflies build in Valkyrie's stomach.

"Just you wait till the kid comes out. Then you'll see a naughty Stephanie..." Valkyrie said with a teasing smile.

"I can not wait..." Fletcher gave her another kiss before he realeased her and walked out to the kitchen. "I am going to make dinner. What do you want?"

"Anything's fine. I trust that you will make something real tasty."

"As the lady desires."

The rest of the evening they spent in front of the TV since Valkyrie found it harder and harder to cope with walking somewhere". The last three days she had mostly sat on the couch and read or watched TV. She could become really tired just by walking into the kitchen and make something to eat. She suspected that the childbirth was not far now and she thought it would be good to get rid of the stomach since it only gave her trouble.

"Do you think Alice can hold on for two more weeks? I wish she could come out soon since I am starting to think that my stomach mostly is a nuisance."

"I do not know, Stephanie. It can be anytime now, it depends entirely on when Alice feels she's ready to come out."

Valkyrie sighed and made herself comfortable against Fletcher's shoulder. She stroked her stomach slowly and closed her eyes. Before she knew it she was sleeping and dreamt of Skulduggery. The only thing she could see of him was his light blue eyes that seemed to see through her. He spoke to her, but she could not hear what he said since he stood so far away, surrounded by shadows. She tried to reach him, but it was as if she was walking in mud. Everything went so slowly and for every step she managed to walk forward it felt like she was falling two steps behind.

"Skulduggery!" she called and stretched out her hand. "I can not hear you! Please, come closer!"

She could not see his face but his eyes moved sideways, which meant that he was shaking his head. To her horror he seemed to disappear even further away. His eyes disappeared more and more into the darkness. Before he completely disappeared she could hear his voice as a faint whisper. "Why, Valkyrie? Why did you not tell me?"

Valkyrie woke up with a jerk and it took some seconds before she understood where she was. She felt a hand on her shoulder and a voice which spoke to her. "Stephanie, what is it?"

"Where..." Valkyrie began but interrupted herself when she felt a powerful contraction in her uterus. This one was more powerful and lasted longer than the ones she'd had for the last weeks. She gasped and had just time to prepare herself before the next came. "We... must go to... the hospital now... I have... just got... labor pains..."

"I'll call the hospital and tell we're on our way. Stay here and I'll pick up the suitcase that we packed beforehand while I talk to the staff." Fletcher gave her shoulder a calming squeeze before he ran away to their bedroom.

Between the labor pains Valkyrie could not help but think of the dream she had. What did it mean? Did it try to tell her something, or was it just a product of her bad conscience? She had no answer, but something told her that it was a hidden message that she could not yet figure out.

She stood up just in time to see Fletcher run around with a brown suitcase in his hand that she understood was her hospital luggage. She started to walk towards the front door when she stopped halfway. She felt how something wet flowed along her legs and when she looked down she could see that her pants and the floor was wet. "Fletcher! The water just broke! Hurry up!"

Fletcher ran in with his so normally disheveled hair in an even more disheveled condition. His eyes were big as saucers and he had big red spots on the cheeks and around his throat. Valkyrie could not help but smile at his appearance but grimace when a new labor pain hit her.

Fletcher walked up to her and put his arm around her waist to support her. With common powers they managed to put on a new pair of pants on her before they got to Fletcher's car and he helped her to sit down in the passanger seat and fasten her seatbelt. He threw the suitcase into the backseat and then sat down in the drivers seat. He backed out from the apartment complex and then drove as fast as he could towards the hospital.

Valkyrie took up her phone and called her mother. "Mum, we're on our way... to the hospital now. Alice is on her way. You can... go to the hospital and wait... in the waiting room if you want. I'll ask Fletcher... or the doctor to get you... when everything's done. I love you too. See you later!"

Valkyrie hung up and then send a text message to Tanith. _Am on my way to the hospital now. I or Fletcher contacts you when Alice is out._

"How's it going? How frequently does the labor pain come?" Fletcher asked when Valkyrie had put back the phone in her pocket.

"It's... fine. So far... it's pretty far... between them. I would think... that I have some... hours left before... it's time. Unless... Alice suddenly... pushes like hell..." Valkyrie answered with strained voice.

Fletcher nodded. "That sounds good. They're waiting for us outside the entrance. It may be that you have to be put in a wheelchair if they think it's necessary. Since I couldn't tell how often the labor pains came they did not want to take any chances."

"Considering how fast they emerged it would not surprise me at all if the childbirth starts just as fast. Something tells me that Alice is a stubborn little girl and that she will show that as early as during her birth."

Fletcher laughed. "She has guaranteed gotten that from you, Stephanie. Of what I have been able to see and hear during the pregnancy it's a tough little girl in there."

Valkyrie nodded and closed her eyes while she tried to breath regularly and follow in the labor pains pace. It was pretty hard though since she wanted to hold her breath everytime a new labor pain passed through her. This far they were not that powerful, did not hurt so much and came with a few minutes space. She knew that as long as the labor pains did not become more powerful or really tight it was not time to give birth yet.

"Calm down, sweetie..." Valkyrie whispered to her unborn daughter and laid her hand over her stomach. "Take it easy... Mummy's here... when you get out..."

They drove a few more minutes and when Valkyrie could see the hospital in front of them the labor pains had not changed, but still came with the same steady pace. As soon as Fletcher stopped the car outside of the entrance she opened the door herself and stepped out. A nurse that seemed to be max a few years older than herself with blue hair came over to her and helped her to a wheelchair. "I do not think... its necessary. I'm fine. The labor pains are not... coming that tight yet."

"Believe me, Stephanie, its necessary. You can see it on you. You're sweating and I can see that you're in pain. You may not feel that much pain yet, but believe me when I say that the pain will soon intensify. You're only in the first stage yet and has a lot of work ahead of you. Now, let me take you to the maternity ward."

Valkyrie did not protest but trusted that what the nurse said was true. She let herself be rolled to the elevators and in the same moment that they stepped inside she was overthrown of a labor pain that was more powerful than the previous. She gasped and had to stop herself from pushing. The nurse looked at her. "I got a vigorous labor pain. More powerful than the last..."

"How vigorous?"

"I want to push... but holds myself back. I do'nt dare to... push before I've met a doctor."

"Okay. I'll help you into the maternity ward and call for a doctor. We must see how open you are before we can decide whether you're ready to give birth or not." The nurse rolled her into an empty room and helped her up on a bed. "I will go and get some other clothes for you. I'll be right back. If you need help you can just push on the red alarm button next to the bed."

Valkyrie nodded and laid down on the bed. She started to count to see how long time that passed between the labor pains so she could try to figure out how long she had left before the birth would occur. She clocked the labor pains with around two minutes space which said her that Alice would come out sooner than she had been expecting.

After a little while Fletcher came running in. He got a relieved expression in his face when he saw her and sat down on the chair next to her bed. "Sorry, I had some trouble finding a parking space. How's it going?"

"Alright. The labor pains comes with around two minutes space and a nurse is soon coming in with some other clothes for me. She would also find a doctor so they can see how open I am."

"That sounds great." Fletcher took her hand and pushed it. "God, I'm so nervous! I still can not understand that it's time. After all longing and waiting..."

Valkyrie laughed. "Considering your facial expression and body language I can't do anything but agree. I would even go as far as to say that you're more nervous than me."

Before Fletcher had time to answer the nurse came back with a pair of green hospital clothing in her arms and with a doctor behind her. The doctor was a female and when she came up to them she stretched out her hand against first Valkyrie and then Fletcher. "Good evening, my name is Reverie Synecdoche and I am an obstetrician. I will be with you all the time and make sure everything's going good. Do you have any questions?"

Valkyrie and Fletcher shook their heads. The nurse gave Valkyrie her new clothes and then helped her in to the bathroom where Valkyrie waved her away. "I can do this myself, thank you. I'll tell you if I need any help."

The nurse nodded and walked out to help Synecdoche prepare what needed to be prepared for the childbirth. Valkyrie took of her clothes between the labor pains and concentrated on breathing regularly to lessen the pain that rose with each labor pain. When she had managed to dress in the green hospital clothing she sat down on the toilet to prepare for the work that she now knew would come in the near future.

"Oh, Skulduggery... Why did it turn out this way? I so innerly wish that you could've been with me now... It does not feel right to hide this from you, but I am afraid that I have no other choice. If everything had been different so maybe..."

Valkyrie got interrupted by Fletcher that knocked on the door before he stepped in. "Stephanie, how's it going? Do you need help? I thought it sounded like you were talking to someone."

"No, thank you. I am good. I just needed to gather some strength. I talked to myself, you know, to calm down myself a little. I am ready to meet the doctor now." She stood up and followed Fletcher out while she was happy that he had not heard what she had said.

 _Then I would have a lot to explain..._ she thought to herself.

"Valkyrie, are you so kind and lay down on the bed here so I can examine you." Synecdoche and the nurse that Valkyrie now saw was named Clarabelle stood on each side of the bed and waited for her.

She laid down and felt how Synecdoche spread her legs and how something cold was brought into her. She shivered from the cold but otherwise lay completely still and continued to concentrate breathing calm and regularly. "How does it look, doctor?"

"It looks good. You are almost completely open. I gotta admit that it's unusual for a women about to give birth for the first time to be ready as fast as you are. You must have a real fighter in there. How's the labor pains? How often do they come?"

"They are still the same. They arrive with around two minutes space and are middle strong. I have the urge to push, but not so much that it feels as if it is time for Alice to come out."

"Alice? That's a beautiful name. I'm going to prepare some sedatives to you in case the pain gets too hard. I'm around the corner if you need me. Clarabelle will stay by your side all the time, so if you have any questions you can always ask them to her." Synecdoche smiled and walked out of the room.

Valkyrie looked up at the ceiling and continued to breath with the labor pains. She prepared herself for the pain that she knew would come but strangely enough did not feel afraid or nervous. It was as if she'd done this before, as if she'd done nothing else but give birth. She guessed that she was one of those few people that could keep themselves calm in stressful situations.

"I like your eyes. What colour do you think the child will get? Would it not be cool if it had reptile- or cat eyes?" Clarabelle looked at Valkyrie with a curious expression in her face.

"Excuse me?" Valkyrie asked and stared at Clarabelle.

"I'm sorry, I just mean that I've heard about humans that have those kind of eyes but I've never seen any of them in real life. I've always wanted to see a human with reptile eyes!"

"Eh..." Valkyrie did not know what she should answer to that statement. She wondered where this topic of conversation had come from, since Clarabelle had seemed pretty normal when she'd picked her up.

"Sorry. Sometimes I prattle when I get nervous. I've never been involved in a childbirth before. I've not actually done that much as a nurse yet if I should be honest. I am newly qualified, you see."

"Should you really be here in that case? Could it not become dangerous for Valkyrie if you do not know what you're doing?" Fletcher wondered and looked at Clarabelle with a worried facial expression.

"Oh, it'll be alright! How am I supposed to learn if I am not here and experience it myself? Synecdoche trusts me and tells me I'll understand everything eventually."

Valkyrie could not resist laughing at Clarabelle's innocence, naivety and bubbly personality. Even if Clarabelle was newly qualified as she stated Valkyrie felt safe together with this woman. There was something with Clarabelle that told her she had nothing to worry about.

Another labor pain, more powerful than the previous one environed her and the pain made her scream. "Damn! I think... it's about time..."

Clarabelle immediately became serious and bent down to look between Valkyrie's legs. "You're right, you're fully open now. Push the button next to your bed, the red one. Synecdoche should be here soon."

Valkyrie did as she had been told and after a minute Synecdoche came running in. She immediately saw on Valkyrie that it was time. She walked over and stood in-between Valkyrie's legs. "Okay, are you ready, Valkyrie? I want you to push each time a new labor pain comes. Push with the labor pains and do not work against them. The labor pains is telling you something is coming out, so listen to them."

Valkyrie nodded and took a deep breath while she took a hold of Fletcher's hand. In the same moment that next labor pain came she pushed. The pain that went through her was a pain she had never felt before, but instead of giving way for it she used it as a driving force to be able to push at the next labor pain. For each time she pushed she felt how something slowly slipped down along her uterus and genital.

She did not know how long she laid there and pushed but finally she heard Synecdoche tell her to push as hard as she could and in the same moment that she let out a scream of pain and exertion she felt how Alice _finally_ slipped out of her. A child's scream filled the room and Valkyrie used her last powers to push herself up on her elbows so she could see her child.

In Clarabelle's arms lay a little newborn girl with blond hair and closed eyes. Valkyrie stretched out her arms against Alice and Clarabelle handed her over. In the same moment that Alice was in her mothers arms she stopped crying and opened her eyes. When their gazes met and Valkyrie could see the blue colour, she finally got her suspicions confirmed.

 _Alice was Skulduggery's daughter._

She held her newborn daughter and tears of happiness poured down her cheeks. She felt a hand on her shoulder and when she looked up she met Fletcher's gaze. His eyes radiated happiness and proudness. He stroked Alice over the head and gave her cheek a careful kiss. "My girls..." he said proudly. "My beautiful, strong girls..."

Alice looked up at Fletcher for a few seconds before she started to search for Valkyrie's breast. "You must be hungry. Here, sweetie." Valkyrie gave Alice her breast and her daughter immediately started to suck in the food.

The feeling the breast-feeding gave Valkyrie could not be described. She had read so much about the first minutes with your child and what it means, but now, when she got to experience it herself she understood that the feeling could not be dressed in words. To really understand what it means to become a mother and to experience your childs first breath, first gaze, first meal... It had to be experienced to be understood.

Fletcher stroked her hair while Alice ate and laid his head against her pillow. He did not release his gaze on Alice for a second. "I can not understand that we've created such a beautiful creature... Even though I am looking at her, I can not understand that she's finally here after all the waiting."

"Isn't it amazing?" Valkyrie smiled and closed her eyes. She was so tired. All energy had disappeared from her in the same moment Alice had been born.

"Rest now, Stephanie. When Alice is done feeding Clarabelle'll borrow her for a while. She needs to be washed off and we're going to cut of the umbilical cord. Do you want to do the honour, Fletcher?" Synecdoche turned to Fletcher with a scissor in her hand.

Fletcher nodded and took the scissor. In the same moment that he cut off the umbilical cord Alice stopped eating. Valkyrie felt how Clarabelle took her and before she fell asleep she could hear the sound of running water.

* * *

Three months passed. Valkyrie's days now consisted of feeding, changing diaper, put to sleep and play with Alice. She had stayed at the hospital for two days and under those days her and Fletcher's parents, China and Tanith with the company of Ghastly had came to visit. They all had said how beautiful Alice was and how calm she seemed. They all had also commented Alice's eyes, since they had never seen such an intensive blue eyes that Alice had. Valkyrie had explained that Synecdoche had told her that it was uncommon that a child got blue eyes when the parents were dark-eyed, but that it occured.

To both Valkyrie's and Fletcher's surprise it turned out pretty quick that Alice was a calm child. She was awake in the days and slept as good as the whole nights with one or two exceptions for diaper change or feeding. She did not scream that much either, but just by occasional occasions, for example if she had a hard time burping or needed a change.

A sunny day in the middle of may Valkyrie decided to take Alice out for a walk in the beautiful weather. The winter had been staying for a long time, but now it had finally gave way for spring and the sun beamed from a clear blue sky. Valkyrie laid down Alice in her stroller and began her walk.

Wherever she went she was always forced to stop because she met someone acquainted that wanted to take a look at her beautiful little daughter. Valkyrie smiled and thanked everyone for their nice comments. When they had been walking for around half an hour Valkyrie found herself by the pier where she had been swimming as a child. She parked the stroller next to a bench that she sat down on. She made sure that Alice slept peacefully before she turned towards the ocean.

As a child she had always come down here when she felt concerned and could lose herself for hours just looking at the ocean. Her thoughts went to Skulduggery. Was he still alive? How was he? Had he recieved the letter but decided that he did not want anything more to do with her? Maybe he had not believed her, maybe...

"Valkyrie? Is that... you?"

 _That voice..._ She turned around slowly. Behind her he stood, just next to the stroller. So close that she could look straight into those blue eyes.

The eyes that belonged to Skulduggery Pleasant.


	7. The Meeting

They looked each other in the eyes. Time seemed to stand still. Despite it being one year since they last met it was as if no time had passed. If it had not been for Alice laying in her stroller next to her Valkyrie could almost imagine that she and Skulduggery had decided for a secret meeting the day after their first nightly acquaintance.

"Skulduggery." Just that one word got her whole body shiver of delight.

Skulduggery did not answer. Instead he laid his arms around her in an embrace that was so hard that she was afraid not being able to breath. She felt how her arms laid around him and how she hugged him back equally as hard. She laid her head against his shoulder and pulled in his scent. It made her remember their only night together and that memory in turn got her gender to tingle.

"It's nice to see you again. Where have you been?" Valkyrie glanced up at him and found herself stare straight into his blue eyes. Oh, she could be able to stare into those eyes forever!

"I hope you got my letter?" When Valkyrie nodded Skulduggery continued. "As you know I got assigned an undercover mission by my boss. I can of course not tell you any details, but what I can tell you is that I under a year have been a double agent. We have under a long time tried to bust an organization that's calling itself 'The Children of the Spider' since it's them that controlls the crime in Roarhaven."

"Those I've heard about. Isn't it them that always walks around in dark clothes with hoods or veils to hide their identities?"

Skulduggery nodded. "Exactly. Anyway, I infiltrated their headquarters by pretending to become one of them. Since The Children of the Spider is very suspecting and timid it took several months for me to earn so much trust that they agreed to let me become one of them. Then it took me yet another few months to obtain the information I needed. Believe me when I say that it was not easy and that I was close to exposing myself more than once."

"That's not that hard to imagine. With your appearance and personality it must have been tough to only dress in one-coloured garments and where you on top of it all could not show your beautiful face." Valkyrie smiled sly against Skulduggery and stroked her hand against his cheek.

Skulduggery shivered from her touch. "If you only knew... Do you know what the worst was? To not be able to drive my lovely car. Apparently The Children of the Spider knew which car I was driving around in so I had to get myself another more 'normal' car."

Valkyrie laughed at Skulduggery's comment. "Something tells me that you take care of that car as much as your ego. I may only have spoken to you twice, but considering everything Gordon told me about you it feels as if I have not done anything else but talk to you."

Skulduggery smiled and took her hand. "Enough talking about me, even if I shall confess I love hearing myself talking. How are you doing, Valkyrie?"

"I'm good. Have been busy with work and trying to patch together my relationship with Fletcher. I've also..." Valkyrie got interrupted by Alice that had started to cry in her stroller. Valkyrie lifted her up and cradled her slowly while she whispered comforting things in her ear. When Alice had calmed down Valkyrie once again turned to Skulduggery. "I've also been busy with this litte girl."

Skulduggery could not tear his gaze from Alice. In the same moment that their eyes met _he knew_. Valkyrie could see it in his eyes. Many feelings went through Skulduggery at the same time. Surprise, insight, happiness, sadness and anger. He turned towards her and Valkyrie took a steadier grip on Alice when she saw the anger that mixed with a great sadness. "Valkyrie, the letter you sent me... Is it true? Is Alice... mine?"

Valkyrie nodded. "Yes. You are Alice's real father. I... could not keep it a secret. I understood that you would figure it out either by hearing about her from others or if you would bump into us, like now. I do not know how many times I got to hear at the hospital from both Tanith and Ghastly how alike Alice is you when Fletcher wasn't around and could hear anything.

You have to understand, Skulduggery. I was serious when I wrote that I wanted to give mine and Fletcher's relationship a chance. When I then found out I was pregnant a few weeks later... I did not know what to believe. I did not know then that she was yours, as she could as well be Fletcher's since we had sex the morning after our night together. I did not want to give you any false expectations.

Then when I got to see Alice for the first time there on the screen at the midwife... Then I understood that she was yours, even if I could not see her eyes. I just knew, _how_ I can not answer. Directly after the visit at the midwife I contacted Ghastly and asked him to send the letter you got to you. Since I did not get any answer from you I assumed that you did not want anything with us to do. I figured that if you now so happily would like to be a part of your daughter's life you would have seeked me up as soon as the letter arrived."

"Of course I want to be a part in my daughter's life! Oh my god, if you only knew what kind of thoughts that spun around in my head in the same moment that I saw the picture of her!" Skulduggery threw out his arms in a frustrated gesture before he stroked them over his face.

Valkyrie did not answer. She could understand Skulduggery's frustration, but it did not explain why he had not contacted her. Had he not believed her? Did he think that she had fooled him? Why would he think something like that about her? Had she missunderstood him completely? She really wanted to believe that he was the same man that Gordon had described him as under all those years he had been telling about his and Skulduggery's adventures together.

"I wanted so gladly believe that it was true, that I'd got a new chance in life. That I once again would be given a chance to raise a child and see it grow up. At the same time I was scared, Valkyrie. _So scared over that it would be a missunderstanding, that you were wrong and that it was Fletcher's child._ Believe me when I say that if I'd been able to, I would've thrown myself in the first, best vehicle and driven straight to you. As the situation was when I got the letter I had just managed to get accepted in The Children of the Spider's gang and could not back out. I needed to get hold of the information that my boss wanted first."

I understood the truth first when Ghastly called me a few weeks ago and told me about Alice. He told me that he thought it was strange that Alice looked so much like me. It was not just because of the eyes he said, but also on her charisma and how she acted in Fletcher's presence. She did not cry or anything like that when he held her, but it was as if she got something absent in her gaze and body language, as if Fletcher was a stranger that she allowed hold and take care of her."

As if Alice understood what they were talking about she looked up at Skulduggery, smiled and stretched out her small hands against Skulduggery. Valkyrie got equally as surprised as Skulduggery over Alice's behaviour and when she looked at him she saw how shocked he was. "Can... can I hold her?"

Valkyrie took a step forward and handed over Alice to Skulduggery. In the same moment that his arms was laid around her Alice began to gargle and laugh. She looked at Skulduggery the whole time she was gurgling and Valkyrie felt how her heart swelled of love against the two persons that stood in front of her. She could not stop herself from once again thinking _if everything had been different..._

"Alice is a smart girl. She seems to recognize her daddy. Right, Alice? You are daddy's little girl, aren't you?" Skulduggery asked and tickled Alice's stomach with his middle finger which got Alice to laugh even more.

Tears rose in Valkyrie's eyes that she in vain tried to hold back. Skulduggery heard her sob and when he saw her tears he laid one of his arms around her in an embrace. "I understand, Valkyrie. I understand exactly."

Valkyrie leaned against Skulduggery's shoulder and let the tears flow while she observed her daughter that seemed so comfortable in Skulduggery's arms. It was as if he had never been away from her, as if it had been he that had been by her side all the time ever since she had been born three months ago and not Fletcher. Could it really be true what Skulduggery had said, that Alice knew that Fletcher was not her real father?

Alice yawned audibly and closed her eyes. Skulduggery cradled her carefully until she had fallen asleep and then laid her down in the stroller. When he had ensured that Alice lay comfortably and slept peacefully, he turned towards Valkyrie. He sat down on the bench and gestured to her to sit down next to him.

Valkyrie sat down next to Skulduggery and once again leaned against his shoulder. None of them said anything for a while, but let the sound of the waves crashing against the pier surround them. The sun was on its way down and threw an orange-red shine over the city. Valkyrie closed her eyes and thought: _Here I could stay forever, in the company of the two persons I love._

Because that was precisely what she felt for Skulduggery, that she understood now after having seen him together with Alice. Even how strange it might seem she was in love with Skulduggery and she could not close her eyes to it despite how much she tried to. She also understood that it was something she'd been trying doing under the year that had gone since they last met. She had persuaded herself that she wanted to continue live with Fletcher, that it was there she should be, by his side. When she then had found out she was pregnant she had used that as an excuse for having a reason to stay with Fletcher.

But now... Now when she had met Skulduggery again after a year everything came back to her. All the feelings she had repressed. Had she not confessed to Tanith that if she had not been together with Fletcher she would've given Skulduggery a chance? Yes, she had and now when he once again was by her side... What would she do now?

As if Skulduggery had read her thoughts he looked down at her with a sadness in his eyes that got Valkyrie to lay her hand on his and squeeze it. He sighed and laid his head against hers before he said "We need to talk, Valkyrie."

"I know."

"What do you want to do? I understand if you want to continue being together with Fletcher since you've been together for so long. You know him and know where you have him. He seems to be a good lad. Gordon didn't like him, but he accepted and respected him and considered that it was up to you who you wanted to be together with. 'As long as Stephanie's happy, I'm also happy', he used to say to me."

"Honestly, Skulduggery? I do not know what I want to do. You're right when you say that I know Fletcher and know where I have him, but if I'm going to be real honest, so... I don't think there's so much more than that anymore. Lately, especially after Alice's birth, I've started to imagine a life without him and how I feel about that. I do not need to worry about money, since I inherited all of Gordon's royalties that he got from his books and his house. If I and Fletcher would part ways I have both money and somewhere to live until I can begin working again."

Skulduggery nodded. "Gordon told me that he had wrote you in his testament, but he did not want to reveal exactly what he was going to give you. I suspected that you would get his royalties and the house, since he knew that you were the only one that would take care of his house and not waste the money."

"So typical Gordon. He was always too smart for his own good."

"Is that so? In that case I would like to state that the same applies to you. As I said the first time we met, you are very much alike him in many ways. When I think back on the conversation we had a year ago I find myself in several occasions thinking that it's like I'm having Gordon next to me instead of you."

Valkyrie could not help but smile. "The same, Skulduggery. The same..."

They sat silent for another few more minutes before Valkyrie watched the clock and saw that it was late. If she did not want to worry Fletcher she must be back home within fifteen minutes. She stood up without letting go of Skulduggery's hand. He also stood up and they looked each other in the eyes. In them the both youths could see their feelings for the other.

"Skulduggery, I have to go." Valkyrie tried to release Skulduggery's hand, but he continued to hold it in his.

"Wait, Valkyrie. Before you go..." Skulduggery took up a card from his suit pocket with his free hand and gave it to her. "Since we haven't agreed on a conclusion yet, can't we met again in a few days when we both have got a chance to think about it all? My number stands on the card. Call me when you feel you need to talk."

"I will do that." Valkyrie smiled up at him and despite that she needed to hurry home she could not release the eye contact with Skulduggery.

Without them saying anything they took a step closer to each other and in the same moment that their lips met in a gentle kiss all the feelings that Valkyrie had tried to ignore flowed back and overwhelmed her. She could feel in the way that Skulduggery's lips pressed against hers that he felt the same.

They separated and both were breathing heavily. Valkyrie smiled against Skulduggery before she grabbed the strollers handle. "I'll be in touch."

"I'll be waiting." Skulduggery smiled before he turned around and walked away.

On the way home Valkyrie got time to think about everything that had happened and what had been said. To meet Skulduggery again had been bewildering, to say the least. The thoughts twirled in her head. She had been honest when she'd talked about her feelings and thoughts about how her life would be in the future.

Even she had noticed how different Alice behaved towards Fletcher in relation to herself. Fletcher had not said anything about it other than that Alice probably needed some time to get to know him, since it after all had been Valkyrie and not him that had been carrying her in her stomach. Despite this he thought the whole thing was odd, but he had not said or done anything that had made Valkyrie suspect that he did not think that Alice was not his child.

She decided to let it go some days. After all Skulduggery probably had a lot to think about as well. He had after all just found out that he had become father to a child he had not known if it was his or not until just recently.

* * *

Four days passed. Four long, anxious, shillyshally, wondering and hopeful days that Valkyrie filled with thoughts and scenarios. She had already under the second day come to insight of that she would no longer be able to continue living together with Fletcher. The insight had hurt her but also given her a sense of relief over being able to make a decision. The thing she still was unsure of was whether or not she should give Skulduggery a chance or if she should move home to Gordon's house and raise Alice as a single mother.

On the fifth days morning she and Alice waved goodbye to Fletcher when he drove off to work. In the same moment that his car disappeared from sight Valkyrie picked up her phone and dialed the number that she could by heart at this point. She did not know how many times she had stroked with her fingers over the card under the more than 100 hours that had passed since she recieved it.

In the same moment that his voice filled her ear she shivered of delight. His voice was so pleasant, so soft... It was what she had missed the most. "Valkyrie. Finally I'll hear from you. How are you?"

"Skulduggery, you have no idea how much I have wanted to do this. I can not stop thinking about you. We need to meet and agree on a solution. Can I and Alice come over for a little visit?"

"I'm home, it's just to swing by. I'll be waiting."

Valkyrie hung up and turned toward Alice. "Now you understand, sweetheart, we're going on a little car trip to visit your father. You'll like that, won't you?"

Valkyrie strapped Alice to her car seat and then drove to Cemetery Road. The Bentley stood parked on its usual place and she parked her own car behind it. In the same moment that she turned off the engine the front door opened and Skulduggery came out to greet them.

When he was just a few meters from her she ran forward and met him. He stretched out his arms against her and she threw herself in his fathom. So they stood for a while. Just took in each others vicinity and the feeling of security it gave. Valkyrie reluctantly released Skulduggery when she heard Alice whine in the car and turned around to fetch her when Skulduggery laid his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll fetch her. You can go inside and make a cup of tea so long. I promise I will be careful. I have after all been a father once before and I _never_ dropped my first child. Or well, it was that one time when I turned my attention towards something else when I was going to change diaper and the child in question kind of rolled down from the changing table. Now when I think about it, it probably wasn't my fault in the end, but my child's. But I promise you that I will not let Alice roll out of my arms, even how much she is twisting and winding!"

Valkyrie laughed and walked into the house. She walked into the kitchen and soon found everything she needed to make tea for two. While she prepared the tea she heard Skulduggery talk and spoof with Alice. Alice in turn laughed and talked back in her own way. The sounds made her heart once again fill with that love she had felt five days ago when Skulduggery had held Alice for the first time.

Both of them came into the kitchen just as Valkyrie held up the tea in two mugs. She put them down on the table and then sat down. Skulduggery sat down opposite her with Alice in a firm grip and smiled down at his daughter where she talked with him in her special baby language. After having observed them both for a while Valkyrie began to see on Alice that it was time for feeding. Alice got a special expression in her face that Valkyrie quickly had learned to read. It was the same when she needed to change diaper.

"Skulduggery, could I get Alice? She starts to get hungry."

Just as she had said those words Alice started to whine in Skulduggery's arms and turned her gaze towards Valkyrie. Skulduggery handed Alice over and Valkyrie pulled up her shirt before she unbuttoned her breastfeeding bra. Just before she was going to drop it down to give Alice her nipple she stopped and looked at Skulduggery. "Is it okay that I feed her in front of you, by the way? I don't want to embarass you or anything..."

Skulduggery laughed and gave her a meaning gaze. "If you now have forgotten I have seen you naked before, Valkyrie. Furthermore I consider that a women should be able feed her child fully visible without it having to be looked at something sexual, obscene or embarassing. To breastfeed your child is after all a part of the motherhood."

Valkyrie smiled and let the breastfeeding bra fall so Alice could get her food. Alice immediately began to eat and Valkyrie felt that now was a great opportunity to discuss her and Skulduggery's situation. "I've come to a conclusion, Skulduggery. I and Fletcher will not be able to continue be a couple and I'll sit down and talk with him this weekend. I don't know how much of the truth I'll tell him when it comes to us two, since he's going to think it's hard enough to have to separate. When it comes down to the two of us..."

"You do not yet know what you feel for me. I understand completely, Valkyrie. I would lie if I said I don't want to be with you, but I'm not going to force you into something you yourself do not want. The only thing I feel I have the right to demand is that I get an opportunity to be a part of my daughter's life."

"Which you of course will get. I can not deny you time with Alice, I'm not that kind of person. As I feel it right now I would really like to be friends with you to get a chance to get to know you to begin with. Who knows, it may develope into something more further on. What do you think of that?"

"That sounds good." Skulduggery smiled and took her free hand in his and pushed it.

Alice was done with her meal and Valkyrie had to release Skulduggery's hand so she could lay Alice over her shoulder. She hit lightly on her back until Alice burped. "Good girl", Valkyrie said and kissed her on the forehead.

Alice yawned and Skulduggery asked if he could put her to sleep. Valkyrie gave Alice to him and he began to cradle her slowly. Alice did not release her gaze on him and she had a smile in her face the whole time, even when she fell asleep. Skulduggery put her down in the car seat that he had taken with him inside and then laid a blanket over her tiny body so she would not get cold.

"You know, I really start to believe that Alice in some mysterious way knows that you are her real father. The way she talks, smiles and laughs with you... So different to how she is with Fletcher. She is so quiet when he holds her and she gets something distant in her eyes. I don't know, it's hard to explain. You have to see it yourself to understand."

"Alice is a smart little girl. That she has guaranteed got from me." Skulduggery gave her a mischievous smile and Valkyrie laughed.

"In that case she has guaranteed got her stubbornness from me."

"Guaranteed. From what I've heard from others you're a stubborn young woman, no question about it."

"Hm, who's told you that, I wonder?"

"Oh, you know. Rumors circulate in the circles we work in. Considering what a good detective you are, it's not that strange that rumors travel? I've heard it from my boss, my co-workers, criminals and of course Gordon."

"Of course. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if I have to tell anything to you since it feels as if Gordon has already told everything there is to tell."

"Do not worry, Valkyrie. Everything he told me can not compare to what I myself has seen, heard and experienced the few times I've been with you. You're something different, that's for sure."

"Good to know."

The silence lay between them. They looked each other in the eyes and both had a smile on their lips. Their hands met halfways across the table and when their skin touched each other they both could feel that attraction that excisted between them. It went like an electric shock through their bodies and filled them with a feeling of affinity. As if it were intended that it should be the two of them, as if they belonged together and was concatenated by an invisible force that pulled them towards each other.

Skulduggery stood up and without letting go of Valkyrie's hands he took her with him into the living room. He released one of her hands and started the CD-player that stood on the shelf above the TV. Calm music streamed out from the speakers and Skulduggery laid his hand on Valkyrie's hip. Without him having to ask the question Valkyrie nodded and soon they danced a quiet salsa.

They never released their gaze on each other and Valkyrie was surprised by how good Skulduggery was and how easy she followed in his steps. She had never been that good at dancing, but now when Skulduggery was leading her it was as if she had not done anything else. He made her feel attractive, important and loved. Without having to say a single word. Everything could be read in his eyes that looked into hers and she knew that he could see the same thing in her eyes.

"I love you, Valkyrie Cain", Skulduggery said and kissed her.


	8. A new beginning

**Warning! This chapter contains _sex_!**

 **So here it is, the last chapter! This story turned out to be over 50 pages long and is thereby the longest fan-fic I've written so far. When I first wrote this story, I thought it was only going to be around 3-4 chapters, but it got the double! Who would have thought? :)**

* * *

Valkyrie kissed Skulduggery back and could feel how his grip on her hip hardened while the desire streamed down from her lips and continued down through her body. Despite her telling him a little while ago that she only wanted to be friends with him, she was now on her way considering to sleep with him a second time.

As if Skulduggery could read her thoughts he broke off the kiss and looked her in the eyes. "Valkyrie, you're so beautiful... I want you..."

"And I you..." Valkyrie answered and led Skulduggery to the sofa.

Once there she sat down in his lap and let her lips met his again. While they kissed she unbuttoned his shirt and let her hands caress the naked skin that were under it. Skulduggery shivered from her touch and let his own hands wander inside her shirt where he caressed her stomach and breasts. This made Valkyrie moan low. She pressed her throbbing gender against Skulduggery's and started to rock back and forth which made them both moan even more.

Skulduggery unbuttoned her pants and pulled down both them and her panties so he could come at stroking her clitoris with his fingers. Valkyrie bit herself in the lip not to moan high since she was afraid to wake up Alice that slept in the room next door. She pushed herself harder against Skulduggery's fingers and gender. "Skulduggery... Please, I want you..."

Skulduggery leaned forward towards her and whispered in her ear "As you wish", before he unbuttoned his own pants. He took a hold on her hips and placed her right above his throbbing gender before he slowly let her enclose him.

In the same moment that she felt how Skulduggery enclosed her Valkyrie bent down her head and moaned. She started to move up and down along Skulduggery's penis and he helped her by holding a steady grip around her hips. Valkyrie in her turn laid her hands on Skulduggery's shoulders to be able to steady herself while she moved.

To once again feel Skulduggery inside her was fantastic! She first now understood how much she actually had missed the feeling he'd given her their first night together and that he was a better lover than Fletcher. Skulduggery knew exactly where he should caress, kiss and move himself to give her as much pleasure as possible. He knew where all her sensitive spots were and fully utilized them.

"Oh, Skulduggery..." moaned Valkyrie and pushed herself deeper against him.

"Valkyrie..." Skulduggery whispered and kissed her throat. "You're so wonderful..."

His velvety voice made her shiver. She could be able to listen to that voice forever...

They continued to move inside one another for what seemed like an eternity before they both felt that they were close to climax. Valkyrie took a harder grip on Skulduggery's shoulders and pushed herself so deep down along his penis that she could. Skulduggery in his turn pushed himself so deep in her inside as he could and pressed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss. They came simultaneously and when they did Valkyrie dug down her nails hard into Skulduggery's shoulders while she moaned Skulduggery's name out loud.

They breathed heavily and Skulduggery pulled himself out from Valkyrie with a sigh. They looked each other in the eyes and both had a smile on their lips. Valkyrie laid her head against Skulduggery's shoulder and closed her eyes. She let the thoughts wander freely and soon realized that after what had just happened she would never be able to go back to a normal life with Fletcher. Her choice to part from Fletcher had been the right one, even if it pained her. She could only hope that Fletcher would understand her decision and that they could still be friends.

Whether she would tell him about Skulduggery and that he was Alice's real father she had not yet decided. She knew that if she did not tell him the truth now and if it did not come from herself Fletcher could become more hurt if he heard it from an outsider. Despite her knowing this it made her second guess herself.

Was it something that she now knew for certain anyway, it was that she loved Skulduggery. She could not yet say if she loved him enough to be able to be in a relationship with him or if it was only a sexual attraction. She looked up at Skulduggery and in his eyes she could see the love he felt towards her. She knew that she had to be honest with him if she did not want to hurt him so she said:

"Skulduggery, I hope that you after this is not taking it as if I have decided on how we should move forward. I love you, I really do, but I can not say if it is as a friend with benefits or as something more. You will however be able to meet both me and Alice many times in the future since she needs a father. We are her parents and I do not want Alice to grow up without her father."

"You can be calm, Valkyrie. As I said to you before I'm not going to force you into something. It's you that decides. As long as I get a chance to meet my daughter and be there for her I'm happy. If you do not want to be in a relationship with me I understand that as well. It makes me happy though that you at least wants to be my friend. In that way I do not have to worry that things will get awkward between the two of us everytime we meet with or without Alice."

Valkyrie smiled and gave Skulduggery's cheek a kiss. "Thank you for understanding."

* * *

She parked the car, got out and picked up Alice where she sat in her car seat. She had just woke up and now looked up at Valkyrie with a smile on her small baby lips. Her eyes sparkled and Valkyrie could not help laughing at her little daughter. "You're mummy's little treasure, do you know that?"

Alice did not answer, but just continued to smile. Valkyrie gave her cheek a kiss and then walked into the apartment. She hung off her jacket on its usual hook and shouted "Fletcher, we're home now!" before she walked into the kitchen.

In the same moment that she stepped over the threshold she could see Fletcher. He sat by the kitchen table with his back bent down as if he had been crying and with a letter in his hand. A hard lump of worry build in Valkyrie's stomach but she still walked over to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. "Fletcher, what's happened?"

Fletcher did not answer but instead shook of her hand before he turned towards her and she could see that he'd been crying. Anger radiated from his eyes and body. He waved with the letter in front of her eyes and first then she saw which letter it was.

 _Fletcher had found and read Skulduggery's letter to her._

"What's this?!" he roared.

His angry voice made Valkyrie back away one step of chock and Alice to cry in fear. Valkyrie cradled and talked calming to her until she stopped crying. When she had managed to get Alice calm again she once again turned to Fletcher. He had not let his gaze drop her for the whole time and they still glowed of anger.

"It... That is..." Valkyrie began but interrupted herself. She did not know how she should continue. She did not even know how much of the letter Fletcher had been reading. Had he read all, or just some parts?

"Have you gone behind my back, Stephanie?" Fletcher asked with an ice-cold voice. "Is that why you've been so distant under the whole pregnancy and until today? I've seen how you lose yourself in thoughts and how you've been sneaking away to be alone. God damn, I see it on you now! There's something you're hiding and I know it! Spit it out!"

"Do you want the truth, Fletcher? Then you'll get the answer. Yes, I have been cheating on you and that man is Alice's real father."

"I knew it! I have been suspecting it for a while. Alice's eye-color and how she behaves as soon as I hold her... The first days after we had gotten home from the hospital I understood that something was not quite right, but I chose to ignore it because I _trusted you, Stephanie._ "

Without she knowing why the anger erupted inside Valkyrie. Who did Fletcher think he was?! It was him that had chose to close his eyes from the facts and that hadn't listened to her the few times she'd mentioned that they maybe should take a break from each other. It was she that had been telling him that it did not work, that they were drifting apart from each other, but had he listened?

"You, trust me? Who of us was it that suggested that we should take a break to see if it was intended that we should be a couple, Fletcher? Who was it that tried to fix the relationship and who was it that did not want to listen, that thought everything was good? This should not come as a surprise for you since this has been building for a while. I've wanted to break up with you for a long time, I just didn't realise it. You think we're good together, do you? You think we're a happy little boyfriend and a good little girlfriend? Well, I'm not a good little girlfriend."

In the same moment that those words ran out of her it was as if the air went out of Fletcher. He sat down on the chair with his hands in his face and sighed sad. "I thought you loved me..."

"Fletcher, I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"I don't know... I'm not sure..."

"You must know. You must. You always know what you're doing. So why did you do it?"

"I don't know."

"You're lying. You know exactly why you did it."

"Fletcher, it's not important."

Fletcher laughed horribly. "Not important to you, Steph, but it's plenty important to me. Do you even care? I mean, you're crying, I can see the tears, but they're not tears for me. You're crying because you feel bad. Those tears are about you, because everything is about you. It always is, isn't it?"

"I didn't want to hurt you."

"I don't think it occured to you that I would be hurt. How stupid am I, huh? Boom, just like that, I'm cut off and now I can see the whole thing. You're not a good person. I don't know what you are."

"Fletch, please-"

"Please what? Please stop making you feel bad? Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't realise I was ruining your day. Maybe you should run back to whoever it is you've been cheating on me with... maybe he can comfort you."

"It's not like that."

"Oh, so you're dumping me for him?"

"I'm not dumping you for anyone."

"Does he know this?"

"You've got nothing to do with that!"

"That doesn't surprise me. You want me to grow up, right? That I should be more like you that can do nothing wrong? Little 'miss perfect'. You know what? I think I should follow my own little advice." Fletcher smiled a smile that lacked any form of feeling. "I'm going to grow up and my first decision as an adult is to throw you and your little bastard out, Stephanie. I'll give you half an hour, then you'll be out of this apartment. Hurry up, the clock is ticking."

Valkyrie did not answer, but just took a steadier grip on Alice and walked into the bedroom where she laid her down in her crib while she took out a suitcase. In it she packed some clothes for Alice and herself and Alice's toys and pacifiers. She also packed things for the changing table that she put in a overnight bag. The changing table and the stroller she could fold and put in the trunk of the car, the same thing with the crib. The car seat she already had in the car so that one she did not have to worry about.

She took the suitcase and the overnight bag to the car. She did not like having to leave Alice alone in her crib, but despite how angry Fletcher was on her right now she knew he would never hurt Alice. It did not matter what he said, even if Alice was not his daughter she knew that Fletcher loved her. He would not be able to forgive himself is something happened to her.

Correct, when she came back in she found Fletcher sitting on the bed in the bedroom where he watched Alice that played with her feet. He did not look up at her when she came, but took up Alice and held her in his fathom while she folded the crib and the stroller. They said nothing to each other and Valkyrie thought that it probably was just as good. She carried out the stroller and the crib to the car and loaded in them before she walked into the apartment for the last time.

"Fletcher, can I have Alice?" Fletcher looked up at her with a sad gaze and handed over Alice without saying anything. As soon as Alice lay in her arms he let his arms fall down along his sides. A few seconds of silence followed before Valkyrie backed out of the bedroom and whispered:

"Goodbye, Fletcher. I'm sorry that it had to turn out this way." The last thing she saw of him before the front door closed was the tears that fell down his cheeks.

* * *

The car ride to Gordon's, or rather _her_ house, took fifteen minutes. On the way there she got plenty of time to think about what had happened. How had Fletcher got hold of the letter? She had hid it so she could read and remember many times after she'd got it. He must've searched the whole apartment as soon as his suspicions had reached the boiling point. When he then had found the letter, he'd got his suspicions confirmed and that's the way she'd found him...

She was sad that their separation had ended the way it had, but another part of her was happy over and relieved that the truth had finally came out after such a long time. The only thing she could hope for now was that Fletcher would be able to go on with his life and that he found someone else that could make him happy.

She parked in the garage and took out the stroller, the crib and the changing table that she put inside the hallway before she picked up Alice. Valkyrie let her stay in the car seat while she unpacked. When she was done with that she walked out and fetched the rest of the baggage. When she had lay the suitcase in the bedroom and the overnight bag in the bathroom together with the changing table she picked up her phone.

"Valkyrie, has something happened?" Skulduggery's voice in the phone immediately made her calm down and she found herself with a smile on her lips.

"I'm fine. Could... you come over here? I'm in Gordon's house. Something has... occured and I need someone to talk to."

"Of course! I will come as fast as I can!"

They hung up at the same time and a warm feeling spread in Valkyrie's body. Her gut feeling hadn't been wrong. Despite everything that'd happened she still had Skulduggery and could trust him. She turned towards Alice where she lay in the car seat. "Soon daddy will be here, sweetie. That'll be fun, won't it?"

Alice gargled as answer and Valkyrie laughed while she picked her up. She gave her daughter a big kiss on the cheek before she spun around with her. This got Alice to laugh even more and soon Valkyrie also began to laugh. Despite what had happened she felt happy. She had a feeling that told her that from now on everything would be solved and turn for the better.

She after all had a wonderful daughter to take care of.

They stopped spinning and Valkyrie gave Alice a new kiss before she walked with her to the bathroom to change her diaper. When that was done she put down Alice in the stroller since it was time for her afternoon nap before the supper. When Alice had fallen asleep Valkyrie took the opportunity to explore the house.

She had not been here since her uncle died. Now when she was here in the knowledge of that the house was hers it felt exciting but at the same time a little sad. She had so many happy memories from here. How many times had she not laughed, cried and played here? How often had not she and Gordon played detective where he had placed out clues for her that she would have to solve to find the treasure he had hid?

She found herself standing in Gordon's study. Here she had often sit and watched when he wrote his books. He had told her what they were about and asked her for ideas when he'd got stuck at a word or paragraph. He had listened to all her thoughts and ideas without interrupting, disputing, or waving them away. Instead he had embraced what she'd said and some things had even ended up in his books.

She stroked her hand over the desk with a smile on her lips. "Oh, Gordon. I miss you so much... With you I could talk about everything without having to feel stupid or naive. You were a good listener and an even better uncle. I love you."

She turned around to leave the room when she saw that one of the books in the bookshelf next to the desk was standing askew. She walked forward and tried to adjust the book, but it was stuck. She pushed it and at the same moment that it settled itself a clicking was heard and the wall next to her opened. She gaped when she saw the secret room that suddenly revealed itself in front of her. She had known that Gordon had had secrets, but _a secret room_?

A big smile could be seen on her lips when she walked into the room. A faint gleam lit up the room in the same moment that she stepped inside and at first she couldn't understand from where the gleam came, but after looking around she saw small lamps that was installed along the left and right wall. The room was not that big and contained a couple of bookshelves, a small table with some objects on it and a small coffin. The coffin stood in the middle of the room and on it was a note.

Valkyrie walked over the coffin and read the note. "To Stephanie" it stood on it. She took up the note and turned it but nothing stood on the backside. Instead she concentrated on the coffin and tried to open it. It was locked and no matter how much she tried she could not get it open. "Okay, Gordon. You have not made it easy for me. There must be something here that I'm missing..."

She once again looked at the coffin. There was nothing remarkable with it on the first glance, but when she looked closer at it she could see small carvings under the lock. She trailed them with her finger and discovered a small recess at the bottom. When she put her finger in it she could feel something that resembled a lever. She let the finger push down the lever and a clicking sound was heard.

When she looked up the coffin was unlocked. She raised her hand in a victory motion and screamed "Yes!" before she opened the lid. Inside lay yet another letter addressed to her with Gordon's handwriting. She took up the letter, opened it and began reading.

 _Dear, Stephanie_

 _When you're reading this I'm already dead. How, why, in what way and under which circumstances I can not say. I however hope that it was glorious and that I will be missed. Anyway... The reason to why I'm writing this letter is because there's something you need to know and that I can not tell you until I am dead. If I'd told this to you when I was still alive there is a chance that it's not going to occur._

 _I know that when I disappear you will lose a close friend. We stand each other really close you and I and I am tremendously happy over getting to know you. Can you promise me something, Stephanie? Do not mourn me too long since the sorrow will eat you from the inside out if you're not careful. I want you to know that I love you and that you've been a fantastic niece._

 _Now I begin to twaddle again! What I want to say is that if you need someone to talk to, you should contact Skulduggery Pleasant. He's a detective, just like you and works in Roarhaven. He and I have been friends for many years now. You probably remember that I've been talking about him and telling a lot of stories about cases we've solved together. Skulduggery is a good man and I think it's time you two meet. He lives on Cemetery Road here in Haggard._

 _There's yet another reason. You know what I think about Fletcher. I accept him since he's your partner, but not so much more. You need someone that understands you for who you_ really _are and that you can be yourself with. When you're with Fletcher you're playing a role, Stephanie. A role that's not you and that you won't be able to put up forever._

 _When I did research for my books I met a seeress by the name of Cassandra Pharos that predicted my future. I also asked her to check your future, Stephanie. In it she saw that a meeting would occur that would change your life and the life of the other person forever. She described the man for me and I could not believe my ears when it turned out that the man was Skulduggery! Cassandra continued to tell that your meeting would result in a couple of events that would bring you closer to each other, since it according to her is_ the intention _that you should be together._

 _Since that day I've tried to get you two to meet, but if you've not already done that when you're reading this letter it's probably just a matter of time. Something tells me that your first meeting will be unlike any meeting you've both experienced and that it's going to have something with me to do. I'm not saying that because I am egoistic, but because it's a feeling I have._

 _Now I should probably stop before I start babble too much. I thank you for the time that I got to spend with you Stephanie, since it's been the happiest in my life. Tell your mother and father that I love them and give them a big hug from me. I love you all and hope that I get to see you in the next world._

 _Sincerely, your uncle Gordon_

Valkyrie put down the letter with tears in her eyes. So typical Gordon! Always so secrative and enigmatic. She understood now why he had acted a bit strange the last weeks before his death. Could it be that he in some way had managed to figure out that Serpine was after him and that his death was approaching? Could that be why he had wrote this letter to her?

She was interrupted in her thoughts by someone knocking on the front door. Still with the letter in her hand she ran down the stairs and stopped by the door where she looked out through the spy-hole to be able to see who stood outside. She smiled and was filled with a warm feeling when she saw that it was Skulduggery that stood outside. She unlocked the door and threw herself in his arms before he'd managed to take a single step.

"Uf!" said Skulduggery and took a hold of the banister behind him with one of his hand while he let the other lay around Valkyrie's back. "What a welcome!"

Valkyrie laughed and continued to hug Skulduggery. He was so strong, warm and robust in her arms. He made her feel safe and as if nothing could hurt her when he was around. She started to understand that what Gordon had wrote in his letter could have a bit of truth in it.

She looked up in Skulduggery's eyes and could see that he felt the same towards her. "Skulduggery, I have something good and bad to tell you. What you want to hear first?"

"Well, I always use to say that it's better to hear the bad news first, because then I have something fun to look forward to after hearing something sad."

"The bad news is that I and Fletcher are a finished chapter. When I got home I found him by the kitchen table with the letter that you wrote to me in his hands." Valkyrie told about Fletcher's reaction on the letter, what had been said and what they had agreed on.

Skulduggery did not answer but pushed her against himself in a hard embrace. Valkyrie closed her eyes and leaned against Skulduggery. None of them said anything, but just held each other.

"I am so sorry, Valkyrie. Is there anything I can do?"

"You have done more than enough, Skulduggery. Just you being here right now says it all." Valkyrie pulled herself away a bit and held out Gordon's letter. "Here are the good news."

Skulduggery recieved the letter and read it. His eyebrows went up in a surprised wrinkle to then change into an expression of understanding. When he was done reading he looked at her. "I knew there were something special about you from the moment our eyes met. How special you actually are and what our meeting would lead to I had never been able to predict, though...

You see, Gordon talked a lot about you and then I mean _a lot_. As soon as he got the opportunity he told about something you'd done or said and how proud he was of you. I do not know how many times he was nagging on me that you and I should arrange a meeting and meet, since 'we would get along so good'. Believe me, if I had known then what I know now I had contacted you immediately. First now I understand what Gordon meant and why he was nagging so much at me about it."

Valkyrie nodded. "He was on me as well. I must confess that I am happy that we did not meet earlier. Think if we had not dared to give in to each other if we had met under different circumstances? Had we stood here today then, with a wonderful daughter to take care of? I don't think so. I believe that everything that has happened to us has happened for a reason. It is _intended_ that we should be together. Maybe not as partners, but at least as really good friends."

Skulduggery nodded his approval and took her into the house. He looked around in the same moment that the door had closed behind them. "Here nothing has changed since last I was here."

"It probably won't, either. Or some small ones, maybe. I will need to fill the closets with mine and Alice's clothes, fill the dressers with food that I like and install gates at every stair and other workarounds to childproof the house to prepare for when Alice starts to move around."

"Of course. What I refered to was the furnitures, though."

Valkyrie felt how she blushed and turned away her head so Skulduggery wouldn't see. That he had already done, though. He took a grip on her chin and turned her head against him. He looked her in the eyes and smiled before he gave her a kiss that made her insides tingle.

"You're cute when you blush. You should do that more often."

Valkyrie laughed and gave Skulduggery a kiss back before she took him upstairs where their daughter lay and slept in her stroller. With their hands in each other they looked down at the little human that they together had created and that was their everything. Skulduggery let one of his fingers stroke Alice's cheek while he smiled happily.

"You know... I have thought a lot since you drove away earlier today." Skulduggery released Alice with his eyes and instead looked at Valkyrie. "If it's okay with you, do you think that you and I could... give each other a try?"

"As a couple you mean?"

"Exactly. I know it's a lot to ask, but I think it's important for Alice's childhood to have both of her parents present."

Valkyrie smiled and laid her arms around Skulduggery's neck and pushed him close to her. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea..." she said before she let her lips meet his in a passionate kiss.

What they both did not know was that Alice right then woke up and looked up at her parents with a smile on her baby lips.

* * *

 **Fletcher and Valkyrie's argument I took big parts from the 6th book, chapter 34 in "Death Bringer" to be more exact. It's when they break up, in case you think it sounds familiar ;)**

 **I want to thank you all that have read this story! Hope you enjoyed reading it :)**


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